MILPITAS, Calif., Jan. 13, 2012 — The Washington Post recently reported that hackers successfully accessed control of a Springfield, Illinois water plant. The hackers did significant damage to equipment by cycling pumps on and off. This event serves notice that all systems with Internet access are vulnerable and raises the question: how can critical systems be protected?
Systems can be protected by Cermetek's fully independent sensor network to monitor critical system parameters. Use of an autonomous network means that if normal security measures fail to stop cyber intruders, actions taken to generate harm can be quickly identified and rectified.
The foundation of the Cermetek sensor network is a network of wireless sensor nodes, each of which can support multiple sensors monitoring parameters such as power, pressure, and temperature. The nodes are battery powered or include battery back-up, which prevents them from being disabled if power is cut. Data from the sensors is transported to a network base station over a proprietary wireless network. The unique characteristics of the proprietary wireless network impede efforts to intercept or jam the signal. The base station formats the data and transports it to a secure Web server over a dedicated link.
RSVP (Remote Sensor Viewing Platform) software running on Cermetek's Web servers is the brains of the system. The RSVP software integrates the data into a database and then compares the incoming data with limits preprogrammed by the administrator of the monitored system. If any data is found to violate those limits, the RSVP software immediately issues alarm notifications to system operators using email and text messaging. RSVP can also issue alarms at a loss of communications with any node.
Critical systems can be protected. The independent monitoring system from Cermetek provides constant vigilance.
Cermetek Microelectronics, Inc. provides communications solutions for a wide variety of industries. Cermetek solutions include modems, Ethernet, wireless sensor networks, cellular communications and Web-based data management.
Contact:
Mr. Steve Clary
Cermetek Microelectronics, Inc.
374 Turquoise Street
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 942-2200 (tel)
(408) 942-1346 (fax)
Email
http://www.cermetek.com/
# # #