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Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Securely sending industrial information to AWS IoT providers utilizing unidirectional gateways


Introduction

Vital infrastructure clients are challenged to make industrial networks extra accessible with out considerably growing cybersecurity dangers. That is due partly to the frequent apply of utilizing Industrial IoT (IIoT) and cloud applied sciences to investigate giant volumes of business information to enhance operational efficiencies. To achieve success, this apply requires a stability between advancing digitization to stay aggressive and securing crucial infrastructure programs.

Lots of the Industrial Management Programs (ICS) and Operational Expertise (OT) utilized in crucial infrastructure have expertise with little or no built-in safety. Connecting these programs to exterior, untrusted networks poses safety dangers since these programs assist the protected operation of crucial infrastructure. So, how are you going to safely and securely join these programs to the cloud to get the advantages from cloud choices with out including threat to the ICS/OT programs?

AWS recommends following the ten safety golden guidelines for IIoT options. These guidelines suggest to deploy safety home equipment, reminiscent of unidirectional gateways, to regulate information movement and set up safe connections to exterior, untrusted networks and cloud providers.

Unidirectional gateways permit OT/IIoT information to be despatched from the OT community to the IT community and Cloud in a single route whereas bodily blocking visitors in the other way. Unidirectional gateways is usually a safe different to firewalls. They meet a number of industrial safety requirements, reminiscent of NERC CIP, ISA/IEC 62443, NEI 08-09, NRC 5.71, and TS50701. They’re additionally supported by the Trade IoT Consortium’s Industrial Web Safety Framework, who gives steering on defending security networks and management networks with unidirectional gateway expertise. NIST SP 800-82 states that utilizing unidirectional gateways might present extra protections related to system compromises at larger ranges or tiers inside the setting. For instance, a unidirectional gateway deployed between Layers 2 and three might shield Layer 0, 1, and a pair of units from a cybersecurity occasion that happens at Layers 3, 4, or 5. For extra data, discuss with the Purdue Enterprise Reference Structure (PERA).

On this weblog, we talk about two choices to ship OT/IIoT information to AWS utilizing unidirectional gateways. You should use Waterfall Safety’s Unidirectional Cloud Gateway to ship OT/IIoT information to AWS IoT SiteWise or AWS IoT Core to assist IIoT, Trade 4.0, and AI/ML use circumstances. For instance, to enhance operational efficiencies and cut back unplanned downtime in crucial infrastructure operations. This method permits clients in crucial infrastructure sectors and controlled industries to make the most of AWS Cloud providers whereas limiting the dangers to their ICS/OT environments.

Resolution Overview

Unidirectional gateways are a mix of {hardware} and software program. Unidirectional gateway {hardware} is bodily capable of ship information in just one route, whereas the gateway software program replicates servers and emulates units. For the reason that gateway is bodily capable of ship information in just one route, there isn’t any risk of IT-based or internet-based safety occasions pivoting into the OT networks. The gateway’s reproduction servers and emulated units simplify OT/IT integration.

A typical unidirectional gateway {hardware} implementation consists of a community equipment containing two separate circuit boards joined by a fiberoptic cable. The “TX,” or “transmit,” board comprises a fiber-optic transmitter, and the “RX,” or “obtain,” board comprises a fiber-optic receiver. In contrast to standard fiber-optic communication parts, that are transceivers, the TX equipment doesn’t comprise a receiver and the RX equipment doesn’t comprise a transmitter. As a result of there isn’t any laser within the receiver, there isn’t any bodily method for the receiving circuit board to ship any data again to the transmitting board. The equipment can be utilized to transmit data out of the management system community into an exterior community, or on to the web, with out the danger of a cyber occasion or one other sign returning into the management system.

Determine 1 exhibits how a unidirectional gateway replicates historian information from an industrial community to an exterior community, reminiscent of an enterprise IT community or Cloud. Unidirectional gateway software program working on the economic circuit board connects to the economic historian database and points queries to the database. Historic information retrieved from the economic database is shipped throughout the unidirectional gateway {hardware} to software program working on the board linked to the exterior community. That software program registers as a shopper of the reproduction historian database. It then points insert requests to that database asking the database to retailer all of the timestamped information acquired from the economic community. Customers and purposes on the exterior community that want entry to the historic information can entry the reproduction historian. This method isolates and protects the economic programs within the industrial community.

Determine 1: Historian information replication utilizing a Unidirectional gateway (courtesy Waterfall Safety Options)

Possibility 1: Sending OT/IIoT information to AWS IoT SiteWise

Determine 2 exhibits how one can ship industrial information to AWS IoT SiteWise utilizing a unidirectional gateway. AWS IoT SiteWise is a managed service that simplifies amassing, organizing, and analyzing industrial gear information at scale. The Waterfall gateway equipment reads OPC UA information from an OPC UA server and hosts a reproduction OPC UA server for the IT community. An AWS IoT SiteWise Edge gateway working on AWS IoT Greengrass reads the OPC UA information from the reproduction OPC UA server and sends that information to AWS IoT SiteWise within the cloud. The information is saved in AWS IoT SiteWise and might be visualized in AWS IoT SiteWise Monitor. AWS IoT SiteWise Edge software program makes it straightforward to gather, set up, course of, and monitor gear information on-premises. AWS IoT SiteWise Monitor is a characteristic of AWS IoT SiteWise that you should utilize to create portals within the type of a managed net software. You’ll be able to then use these portals to view and share your industrial/operational information.

Determine 2 – Sending industrial gear information utilizing a unidirectional gateway to AWS IoT SiteWise

Resolution Overview

AWS

1. Setup AWS IoT Greengrass

AWS IoT Greengrass is an open-source edge runtime and cloud service for constructing, deploying, and managing system software program. With AWS IoT Greengrass put in, you possibly can deploy AWS IoT SiteWise Edge gateways to gather industrial information utilizing industrial protocols reminiscent of OPC UA.

2. Deploy AWS IoT SiteWise Edge gateway software program

AWS IoT SiteWise gateways run on AWS IoT Greengrass V2 as an IoT Greengrass part that helps information assortment and processing on premises. On this step, you deploy the AWS IoT SiteWise Edge gateway software program for information assortment utilizing OPC UA and configure the OPC UA settings.

3. Mannequin the belongings in AWS IoT SiteWise

Mannequin the belongings to create digital representations of your industrial operation with AWS IoT SiteWise. An asset represents a tool, a bit of kit, or a course of that uploads a number of information streams to the AWS Cloud.

4. Configure AWS IoT SiteWise Monitor dashboard

Create a dashboard to watch key working parameters and efficiency metrics to your belongings utilizing AWS IoT SiteWise Monitor and take vital actions when wanted in near-real time.

Waterfall

5. Setup the OPC UA shopper on the Waterfall unidirectional gateway equipment

Use the unidirectional gateway’s web-based consumer interface on the economic community. Log in and configure an OPC UA information supply. Enter the host identify/IP tackle and login credentials. Additionally, embody directions about copying all information factors within the OPC UA server (the default), or choose the components of the OPC UA namespace that may be copied to the IT community.

  • Waterfall TX acts as a local OPC UA shopper that reads information from the OPC UA server on the client’s industrial system in actual time.
  • Waterfall RX acts as a reproduction of the economic OPC UA server and permits OPC UA shoppers on the enterprise community to learn the replicated information.

For detailed directions, discuss with the Waterfall Safety product documentation.

Possibility 2: Sending OT/IIoT information to AWS IoT Core

Determine 3 exhibits how one can ship industrial information to AWS IoT Core by means of a unidirectional gateway and utilizing the MQTT protocol. Messages can then be routed to completely different AWS providers (reminiscent of AWS IoT Occasions, AWS Lambda, Amazon Kinesis, Amazon Easy Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Amazon Timestream) for processing utilizing the AWS IoT guidelines engine. The Waterfall Unidirectional Gateway is an MQTT dealer on the economic community. It receives MQTT messages from industrial programs and sends that information by means of the gateway to the Waterfall shopper, which then sends the information to AWS IoT Core.

Determine 3 – Sending industrial gear information utilizing a unidirectional gateway to AWS IoT Core

Resolution Overview

AWS

1. Setup Amazon Timestream to retailer the information originating from the economic database.

On this state of affairs, we use Timestream which is a quick, scalable, and serverless time-series database. Nonetheless, you should utilize different purpose-built AWS Cloud databases.

2. Create an AWS IoT Factor with certificates and guidelines to ship information to Timestream.

On this step, the Waterfall Unidirectional gateway is created as an IoT Factor in AWS IoT Core with an IoT certificates and IoT coverage. A rule is configured to ship information acquired by AWS IoT Core to Timestream. Timestream integrates with generally used providers for visualization and machine studying. For instance, you possibly can visualize information utilizing Amazon QuickSight or Amazon Managed Grafana, and use Amazon SageMaker for machine studying.

3. Create and setup the Amazon Managed Grafana dashboard to visualise information.

4. Configure the Amazon Managed Grafana dashboard and create the graphs.

5. Visualize your time collection OT/IIoT information and create alerts utilizing Amazon Managed Grafana.

Waterfall

6. Setup an MQTT connector by means of the Waterfall web-based consumer interface on the economic and the IT sides of the unidirectional gateway equipment.

For detailed directions, discuss with Waterfall Safety product documentation.

Conclusion

On this publish, you discovered the right way to stream OT/IIoT information to AWS IoT SiteWise and AWS IoT Core utilizing the Waterfall Unidirectional Cloud Gateway. This answer permits regulated industries and important infrastructure sectors to make the most of cloud providers in AWS (reminiscent of IoT and AI/ML) whereas stopping distant occasions from penetrating again into protected industrial networks. Whereas the unidirectional gateway simplifies OT/IT integration and helps enhance the safety posture, it is just one facet when designing safe OT/IIoT community architectures. AWS recommends a multi-layered method to safe the ICS/OT, IIoT, and cloud environments as described in the ten safety golden guidelines for IIoT options.

Assets:

Ryan Dsouza AWS

Ryan Dsouza is a Principal Industrial IoT (IIoT) Safety Options Architect at AWS. Based mostly in New York Metropolis, Ryan helps clients design, develop, and function safer, scalable, and revolutionary IIoT options utilizing the breadth and depth of AWS capabilities to ship measurable enterprise outcomes. Ryan has over 25 years of expertise in digital platforms, sensible manufacturing, power administration, constructing and industrial automation, and OT/IIoT safety throughout a various vary of industries. Ryan is captivated with bringing safety to all linked units and being a champion of constructing a greater, safer, and extra resilient world for everybody. Earlier than AWS, Ryan labored for Accenture, SIEMENS, Normal Electrical, IBM, and AECOM, serving clients for his or her digital transformation initiatives.

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