HONEYWELL LAUNCHES NEW INDUSTRIAL CYBER SECURITY SOLUTION TO ENABLE SECURE USE OF USB DEVICES

HONEYWELL LAUNCHES NEW INDUSTRIAL CYBER
SECURITY SOLUTION TO ENABLE SECURE USE OF USB DEVICES

·         Secure Media Exchange
(SMX) provides a  simple, safe way for industrial plants to use
USB-removable media and manage USB ports 

·         Helps protect industry and critical
infrastructure from USB-borne threats

SINGAPORE, April 12, 2017  ̶  Honeywell (NYSE:
HON) Process Solutions (HPS) today announced a new solution for
industrial sites as they balance productivity and cyber security demands.
Honeywell’s new Secure Media Exchange (SMX) protects
facilities against current and emerging USB-borne threats, without the need for
complex procedures or restrictions that impact operations or industrial
personnel.

Malware spread through USB devices
– used by employees and contractors to patch, update and exchange data
with onsite control and computer systems – is a key risk for industrial
control systems. It was the second leading threat to these systems in 2016,
according to BSI publications, and uncontrolled USBs have taken power plants offline,
downed turbine control workstations, and caused raw sewage floods, among other
industrial accidents.

“Industrial operators often have
hundreds or thousands of employees and dozens of contractors on site every
day,” said Eric Knapp, Cyber Security chief engineer, HPS. “Many, if not most,
of those rely on USB-removable media to get their jobs done. Plants need
solutions that let people work efficiently, but also don’t compromise cyber
security and, with it, industrial safety.”

Currently, many plants either ban USBs,
which is difficult to enforce and significantly reduces productivity, or rely
on traditional IT malware scanning solutions, which are difficult to maintain
in an industrial control facility and provide limited protection. These
solutions fail to protect process control networks against the latest threats,
and offer no means to address targeted or zero-day attacks.

“SMX is a great example of Honeywell’s major investments in new
industrial cyber security technologies, products, services, and research which
further strengthen our ability to secure and protect industrial assets,
operations and people,” said Jeff Zindel, vice president and general manager,
Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security. “With the continued increase in cyber
threats around the world, Honeywell’s industrial cyber security expertise and
innovation are needed more than ever for smart industry, IIoT and critical
infrastructure protection.”

Honeywell’s SMX was developed by the
company’s cyber security experts based on field experience across global
industrial sites and feedback from Honeywell User Group customers. Honeywell
has one of the largest industrial cyber security research capabilities in the
process industry, including an advanced cyber security lab near Atlanta. Honeywell also partners with cyber security
leaders, including Microsoft, Intel Security and Palo Alto Networks, among
others, to develop new, highly-effective industrial threat detection
techniques.

Honeywell’s SMX provides hassle-free,
multi-layered protection for managing USB security, letting users simply plug
in and check devices for approved use in the facility. Contractors “check-in”
their USB drive by plugging it into an SMX Intelligence Gateway. The ruggedized
industrial device analyzes files using a variety of techniques included with
Honeywell’s Advanced Threat Intelligence Exchange (ATIX), a secure,
hybrid-cloud threat analysis service.

SMX Client Software installed on plant
Windows devices provides another layer of protection, controlling which USB
devices are allowed to connect, preventing unverified USB removable media
drives from being mounted, and stopping unverified files from being accessed.
SMX also logs USB device connectivity and file access, providing a valuable audit
capability.

“For most plants, the proliferation of
removable media and USB devices is unavoidable, but the security risks they
bring don’t have to be,” said Knapp. “We know our customers have limited
resources to maintain another system, so Honeywell manages SMX for them. SMX
never connects to our customers’ process control networks. From a system
administration perspective, it’s like it’s not even there.”

Managed and maintained directly by
Honeywell, SMX provides the easy and secure solution to USB security in
industrial plants. It helps prevent the spread of malware through removable
media; stops unverified files being read by Windows hosts; and, through the
private ATIX connection, provides continually updated threat information and
advanced analytics to help detect advanced, targeted, and zero-day malware.

Honeywell is the leading provider of industrial cyber security
solutions that protect the availability, safety and reliability of industrial
facilities and help securely deploy Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
technologies. Honeywell’s complete portfolio includes cyber security technology
solutions, managed industrial cyber security services, and professional cyber
security field services. The portfolio leverages the company’s industry-leading
expertise and experience in process control.

For more information about Honeywell’s solutions for industrial
cyber security, visit www.becybersecure.com.