Remote-access Guide

cloud remote access industrial controls

by Maegan Bednar Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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What is industrial remote access?

Industrial remote access Easy and secure remote access to any industrial device or network Connect remotely to your machines anywhere, anytime with a remote access solution designed to meet both OT and IT requirements with the highest level of security and ease of use.

What are industrial secured routers and cloud servers?

Industrial Secured Routers and Cloud Servers allow users to configure, manage and access automation machines and perform remote maintenance operations through audited, cyber-secured Ethernet channels using a cloud server platform that gives customers control and ownership of their data and the ability to facilitate future Industry 4.0 services

Can industrial control system employees access SCADA from their phones?

Industrial control system (ICS) employees can access systems control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems from their phones. While remote access enables agility and fast response times, it also begets questions about cyber security.

What remote access solutions does ixon cloud offer?

IXON Cloud offers various industrial remote access solutions: To protect the plant’s local network, the IXrouter has a built-in firewall and uses a VPN connection to access the IXON Cloud. The advanced RBAC user management system and 2FA enforcement prevents unauthorised users from accessing machines or advanced settings.

What is remote access control?

How to remotely access a computer?

What is the best protection layer for cellular modem?

Can you use a tablet to remote control a computer?

Can you remote access outside a plant?

Do cell modems have security?

See 1 more

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What is industrial remote access?

Industrial remote access provides instant connectivity to machines anywhere, anytime. You can respond quickly to operational issues, minimize facility downtime, and reduce time and travel costs. Remote access is key to productivity and increased uptime.

What is remote access in cloud computing?

Remote access is the ability for an authorized person to access a computer or network from a geographical distance through a network connection. Remote access enables users to connect to the systems they need when they are physically far away.

What are the different types of remote access methods?

Remote Access Control MethodsDirect (Physical) Line. The first direct remote access control that can be implemented is a direct line from a computer to the company's LAN. ... Virtual Private Network. Another method which is more common is establishing a VPN. ... Deploying Microsoft RDS.

What is zscaler remote access?

The Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) service provides secure remote access to internal applications in the cloud without placing users on the corporate network.

What is remote access examples?

Accessing, writing to and reading from, files that are not local to a computer can be considered remote access. For example, storing and access files in the cloud grants remote access to a network that stores those files. Examples of include services such as Dropbox, Microsoft One Drive, and Google Drive.

What is the difference between a remote server and a cloud?

Web Server primarily consists of space which has been leased or purchased by the owner, whereas with cloud computing, you're using applications (like email, word processing, spreadsheet, photo editing) that are located on a remote server somewhere, but using them as if they were programs on your computer.

What are two types of remote access servers?

Remote Access Methods1- Remote Access Server: It's one server in organization network that it is the destination of all remote access connections.2- Remote Access Client: All computers that remote connect to network, called remote access client or remote computer.More items...•

What is required for remote access?

Remote computer access requires a reliable internet connection. You'll need to activate or install software on the device you want to access, as well as on the device — or devices — you want to use to get that access.

How do I control remote access?

Set up remote access to your computerOn your computer, open Chrome.In the address bar, enter remotedesktop.google.com/access .Under “Set up Remote Access,” click Download .Follow the onscreen directions to download and install Chrome Remote Desktop.

Is zscaler better than VPN?

ZPA is an easier to deploy, more cost-effective, and more secure alternative to VPNs. Unlike VPNs, which require users to connect to your network to access your enterprise applications, ZPA allows you to give users policy-based secure access only to the internal apps they need to get their work done.

Does zscaler replace VPN?

Zscaler Private Access: A VPN alternative that delivers a zero trust model. Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is a cloud-delivered, zero trust network access (ZTNA) service that provides secure access to all private applications, without the need for a remote access VPN.

Is zscaler a firewall?

Zscaler Cloud Firewall enables fast, secure on- and off-network connections and local internet breakouts for all your user traffic, without any hardware or software to manage.

What are the benefits of remote access?

4 Advantages of Remote AccessSuccessful Troubleshooting from Remote Locations. ... Streamline Remote Work for Employees. ... Remote Access Makes Collaboration Easy. ... Logs of All Activity Promote Network Security.

What is remote access requirements?

Remote computer access requires a reliable internet connection. You'll need to activate or install software on the device you want to access, as well as on the device — or devices — you want to use to get that access.

What is a remote user?

A remote user is a user who is operating a hardware device or accessing software from an off-site location. IT professionals might also use this term to refer to someone accessing data through various virtual computing models.

What are the benefits of industrial remote access?

Industrial remote access provides instant connectivity to machines anywhere, anytime. You can respond quickly to operational issues, minimize facil...

How to check if remote access is enabled?

The SiteManager Industrial IoT Gateway features a digital input that you can link to your operator panel or a physical switch, so that only when t...

Is it IPSec or SSL VPN?

Neither; the Secomea Solution is based on “Relay VPN,” which uses proxy technology instead of routing. This overcomes the network challenges of tra...

Does Secomea remote access allow full VPN access to equipment?

Yes. Although Secomea uses Relay VPN, the result is the same. Secomea’s remote access solution gives you transparent UDP/TCP access via Layer3 and...

How do I connect remotely to a machine from a PC?

The Secomea LinkManager Client software creates a transparent VPN connection directly to industrial devices such as PLC’s and HMI’s through an Io...

Does Secomea Remote Access use a Cloud service?

Secomea Remote access relies on an Internet based server called GateManager. You can have a free account on one of Secomea’s global GateManager s...

What brands of PLCs are compatible with IXrouter?

The IXrouter can be connected to your PLCs, HMIs, IP cameras, robots, sensors and other machine control components, and is compatible with all major PLC brands such as Siemens, Allen Bradley and Mitsubishi.

Does IXrouter have a firewall?

To protect the plant’s local network, the IXrouter has a built-in firewall and uses a VPN connection to access the IXON Cloud. The advanced RBAC user management system and 2FA enforcement prevents unauthorised users from accessing machines or advanced settings. IXON’s ISO 27001-based security management system (IMS) is in place to protect against vulnerabilities.

Is IXON cloud integrated?

The IXON solution is fully integrated from edge hardware to cloud. No additional software is required. Simply connect our industrial VPN router, the IXrouter, to the machine and the internet, and you've got remote PLC access set up. IXON Cloud offers various industrial remote access solutions:

Remotely Access industrial Information

Many solutions connect you with your information via VPN or remote computer control, creating a vulnerability. In order to allow you remotely access your industrial information, we deliver information to the cloud, which is essential for maintaining security.

It starts on your side and with your application

To achieve secure cloud-based monitoring, Data-Command requires a compliant device to deliver industrial information to our cloud solutions.

Securely Delivering Industrial information to the Cloud

If you already have an internet connection like DSL or cable – great! All of our equipment is capable of utilizing your existing connection to communicate to our cloud solution.

Why do we need industrial remote access?

By using industrial remote access, you ensure instant connectivity to machines where you can respond quickly to operational issues and minimize facility downtime.

What is IoT infrastructure?

IoT infrastructures interconnect building equipment with centrally monitored and controlled systems. Buildings are often maintained by many different service providers and using varying types of equipment for HVAC, lighting, elevators, etc. This presents a high–risk vulnerability to cybersecurity attacks. The Secomea Industrial Remote Access Solution provides an industrial IoT platform that secures on-demand remote access to selected equipment, and also secure tunneling to static surveillance using control protocols such as BACnet. You can easily manage who has remote access to which equipment in the building via drag-and-drop user access management.

Is Secomea security built in?

Security is built in, not bolted on. The Secomea Solution is designed to meet both operational technology (OT) and IT requirements with security at its core.

Can remote access be scaled?

For large-scale enterprises, we can scale the remote access solution according to your business processes and infrastructures. Deployed as a SaaS solution, you get the maximum benefit from the solution and secure every level of your industrial network.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

We rely on industrial control systems to sustain our lives; from utilities to manufacturing, to distribution, to water management. In the past decade, the connectivity level of industrial control systems has increased. In parallel with these digital transformations, ensuring the safety and integrity of these environments is imperative.

Industrial control system security: Notable vulnerabilities

1. Connectivity and integration with external platforms and third party systems provide opportunities for backdoor access and malicious activities.

Preventing industrial control system attacks

In the US, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) provides information designed to empower industry leaders to combat ICS oriented threats.

What is industrial remote access?

With remote access to connected industrial machines you can remotely troubleshoot and program programmable logic controllers (PLCs), view and control Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs), connect to an IP camera for assistance or support field technicians with specific problems. About 90 percent of operating problems faced by industrial machine builders, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and manufacturing companies can be solved by industrial remote access to a machine’s control system. This is beneficial to both machine manufacturers and manufacturing companies.

How to connect to IXON Cloud?

Just start your browser, log in to IXON Cloud and go to the machine you want to connect to and work remotely. The unique combination of a username and password establishes your identity and associates you with your machine (s). Just click on a machines VPN button to set up a secure tunnel with the machine's PLC.

How many servers does IXon have?

IXON Cloud exists of a network of more than 50 servers distributed worldwide, that’s robust, secure and reliable.

What is an ixrouter?

Our IXrouter, a combined industrial VPN router and edge gateway, is designed to offer easy remote access to machines and installations from anywhere. Works with most PLCs and industrial robots on the market. Main benefits:

Why do we troubleshoot machines remotely?

For machine manufacturers, troubleshooting machines remotely without going on site drastically reduces support costs and travel time. The recovered time can now be spent dealing with other support questions. For manufacturing companies it means their machine problems are solved more quickly, which improves their overall equipment effectiveness. In this article we show you how to set up machine remote access and give you a bit more background. You’ll learn what security issues we’ve solved for you, how we did it and how easy it is to use IXON Cloud for remote access.

What is the prerequisite for remote access?

A prerequisite for remote access is that machines can be accessed from the internet in a secure way. After all, nobody wants to undermine the security or daily operations of the parties involved.

Does a firewall protect the PLC-LAN?

While the firewall protects the PLC-LAN from unauthorized access, it does nothing to protect the confidentiality and integrity of traffic from the router itself. For securing this traffic we use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to connect to our own cloud environment, IXON Cloud.

Abundant remote access targets

Assets at the industrial edge can come in many sizes and performance ranges, and this is reflected in the various methods for remotely accessing these assets.

Centralized access vs. point-to-point

When we want to get remote access to an asset, the most obvious strategy is to use a direct network connection from the user’s equipment to the entry point of the asset’s local network, such as a router/firewall, which forwards the connection to the asset’s local management interface.

Role-based access control

Remember the recent case where a “hacker” infiltrated a water treatment plant’s network infrastructure in Florida thanks to a shared password for TeamViewer applications that granted full access at the plant? If we do not want to get caught up in a similar incident, then it would be a wise choice to follow the state-of-the-art in industrial security practices: The IEC 62443’s Authorization Enforcement requirements mandate that access privileges to assets must be managed by a sufficiently fine-grained Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) system.

Customer experience

Remote access to assets by users is a very important part of Industrial IoT use cases. The use cases range from read-only access to data dashboards and monitoring of machine performance to software updates and patch management of production-critical applications.

Conclusions

Remote access to assets at the industrial edge is considered a very important capability by users because it greatly improves flexibility for many workflows in diagnostics and maintenance. This was true before the pandemic, but it has become even more relevant now.

What is access control?

Access control is the part of security that people experience first and most often. They see it when they sign in to their computers and mobile phones, when they share a file or try to access an application, and when they use an ID card key to enter a building or room. While access control isn't everything in security, it's critically important, ...

What is enterprise access model?

The enterprise access model is a comprehensive access model based on zero trust. This model addresses all types of access by internal and external users, services, applications, and privileged accounts with administrative access to systems.

What is a secure access?

Secure: Explicitly validate the trust of users and devices during access requests, using all available data and telemetry. This configuration makes it more difficult for attackers to impersonate legitimate users without being detected. Also, the access control strategy should focus on eliminating unauthorized escalation of privilege, for example, granting a privilege that can be used to get higher privileges. For more information on protecting privileged access, see Securing privileged access.

What is identity centric?

Identity-centric: Prioritize the use of identity and related controls when available. Identity controls provide rich context into access requests, and application context that isn't available from raw network traffic. Networking controls are still important, and sometimes the only available option (such as in operational technology environments), but identity should always be the first choice if available. A failure dialog during application access from the identity layer will be more precise and informative than a network traffic block, making it more likely the user can correct the issue without a costly help desk call.

What is consistent security?

Consistent: Ensure that security assurances are applied consistently and seamlessly across the environment. This standard improves the user experience and removes opportunities for attackers to sneak in through weaknesses in a disjointed or highly complex access control implementation. You should have a single access control strategy that uses the fewest number of policy engines to avoid configuration inconsistencies and configuration drift.

What is remote access control?

In the world of industrial control systems, “ Remote Access ” means different things to different people. It can be as simple as seeing historical data remotely to taking full control of a system from the opposite side of the world. There are many ways that you can remotely connect to a system, some that are secure and some that are not so secure.

How to remotely access a computer?

The simplest method is to connect the computer to a LAN or WAN and remotely access it with freeware, which is readily available for download from the internet. This is not common in industrial applications due to security concerns, but it is easily done. In lieu of that, you might want to look at other, more robust, options. There are a number of security switches on the market which act as a hardware firewall for a VPN and or with a Cell Modem.

What is the best protection layer for cellular modem?

I would recommend using an additional protection layer such as a hardware firewall between the cellular modem and the control system. The firewall will additional protection such a MAC address identification and the requirement for a specific username and password to prevent unauthorized access.

Can you use a tablet to remote control a computer?

With Remote Desktop, you can set up a tablet to access graphics and control the system from outside of the control room. You can also consider using a wireless access point and a tablet to provide remote control in the field. This is fairly simple to set up and provides operations, engineering, and maintenance the ability to work on equipment in the field, while looking at the system live on a tablet. Just be sure to adhere to area classifications if using this method.

Can you remote access outside a plant?

Typically, if you want remote access outside the plant, you may need to work through your IT group. If this is the case, you may have some convincing to do. (e.g. Why do you need it?, Do you really need it?, Can you live without it?) These are all reasonable questions and you need to be prepared to answer these and justify the need versus the risk.

Do cell modems have security?

Even without a security switch, there are several security options natively available in cell modems. The cell modems that we use have VPN Tunneling, Access Control Lists, IP Address Lockdown, and out of the box 1024 bit encryption. For comparison, your online banking probably uses 128 or 256 bit encryption. In order to get through the modem to your system, a hacker would have to log in through the web GUI, hack the username and password, activate the firewall tunnel, and then activate the VPN Tunnel, before gaining access to your network.

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