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Ultra Electronics, 3eTI Introduces First Cyber Security Solution for Vulnerability-Prone DNP3 in Industrial Control Systems
[August 04, 2015]

Ultra Electronics, 3eTI Introduces First Cyber Security Solution for Vulnerability-Prone DNP3 in Industrial Control Systems


Ultra Electronics, 3eTI®, a leading cyber-technology company with products and solutions that secure critical infrastructure and improve operational efficiency, today announced DNP3 (distributed network protocol) support for its CyberFence® product line. The new capability dynamically inspects and validates all DNP3 communications, adding previously unavailable security to counter vulnerable pathways in the SCADA systems used by most water and electric utilities.

Security investigators have discovered numerous vulnerabilities specific to DNP3, some with the potential to damage equipment and impede or halt operations. Organizations such as the DNP User's Group and ICS-CERT have been aware of issues and complexities involved in implementing a fully-secure and robust DNP3 solution.

3eTI collaborated with security experts during the development of CyberFence DNP3 security. One of these was Adam Crain, a security researcher at Automatak and an author of OpenDNP3, an implementation of the protocol. He has discovered and reported dozens of vulnerabilities affecting industrial-control software and systems. "I collaborated closely with the 3eTI team over several months in the development of the first protocol-aware DNP3 packet-inspection solution that will mitigate the issues we are continuing to find today," Crain said. "I am very impressed with the secuity CyberFence provides. It will protect against a broad spectrum of known and unknown vulnerabilities in DNP3 systems."



Industrial networks facilitate the free flow of messages that could allow poison packets to be sent with potentially disastrous effect. The use of DNP3 Secure Authentication doesn't protect all payloads or those from a compromised device, making validated protocol-aware packet inspection essential. Unlike other security systems that perform incomplete or simplistic signature-based matching, CyberFence comprehensively parses the DNP3 protocol, including DNP3 Secure Authentication messages, to detect any malformed, unauthorized, or malicious messages.

"Our customers, around the globe completely trust CyberFence and 3eTI's other critical infrastructure security solutions," said Benga Erinle, 3eTI President. "They know complex systems will be protected by deeply layered security that is proven compliant to the highest possible standards. CyberFence for DNP3 extends the position we proudly hold as unsurpassed for proactively building, and affordably delivering, the most advanced cyber security optimized for critical industrial networks."


The 3eTI CyberFence solution includes end-to-end security through encryption adding confidentiality and authentication to every DNP3 packet that proactively protects devices against known and zero-day vulnerabilities. With CyberFence, DNP3 system owners and operators can mitigate cyber-attacks to critical control systems for continuously reliable communications. Certified by the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), CyberFence offers embedded cyber-protection for vulnerable end-devices, and is widely used in defense industrial networks to efficiently protect machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.

3eTI will be speaking about the CyberFence solution at the 2015 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Control Symposium in Orlando, FL, August 4-6.

About Ultra Electronics, 3eTI

Ultra Electronics, 3eTI is a leading provider of military-grade secure communications that enable critical systems security, infrastructure security, and facilities management for the defense, government, utilities and industrial markets worldwide. Solutions form robust, cyber-secure, wired and wireless sensor networking systems that modernize and integrate disparate legacy systems across widespread bases and facilities to increase productivity, and provide a path to lower operational costs. 3eTI's product portfolio includes net-centric and OEM products that enable comprehensive data protection for a wide range of defense and industrial applications such as secure wireless mesh networks, industrial sensor networks, cyber security, and perimeter security solutions approved for use by the most stringent and demanding customers, including the US military.


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