Control technology - technology that makes things work

What is control technology

Control Technology is hardware and software that detects or causes a change, through the direct monitoring and/or control of industrial equipment, assets, processes and events. Control technology (automation, informatization, cybernetics) is a highly infrastructural enabling technology that is included in virtually all modern devices, machines, processes and systems with the task of ensuring their functionality, reliability, safety and efficiency.

Due to its key role in the final system / product, it is a natural integrator of all technologies involved in the design and implementation of a new system / product. It is therefore a typical horizontal technology, which finds its use within vertical value chains in very different areas of application, among which stands out the use of control technologies in the development of building blocks, tools and systems for the factories of the future. Therefore, the development and use of leadership technology, as one of the most important branches of ICT, is included in virtually all global trends in development and innovation in the world. This is reflected in concrete calls for research and innovation projects (eg Horizon EU, Heureka, Eurostars…), as well as in the implementation plans of global public-private partnerships (eg EFFRA, SPIRE ().

Examples of building blocks control technology :

Usually environments containing Industrial Control Systems (ICS), such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, distributed control systems (DCS), Remote terminal units (RTU) and programmable logic controllers (PLC), as well as dedicated networks and organization units. The built environment, whether commercial or domestic, is increasingly controlled and monitored via 10's, 100's, and 1,000s of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. In this application space, these IoT devices are both interconnected via converged technology edge IoT platforms and or via "cloud" based applications. Embedded Systems are also included in the sphere of operational technology (e.g. SMART instrumentation), along with a large subset of scientific data acquisition, control, and computing devices. An control technology device could be as small as the ECU of a car or as large as the distributed control network for a national electricity grid.

Who is KCSTV ?

KCSTV (Competence Center for Advanced Control Technology ) is innovation cluster, focused in research and development of control technology in different industry domains.

The KCSTV consists enterprises representing the majority of the most important companies in the Slovenian industrial processes automation and information services market, and additionally four institutions performing the majority of this kind of research in Slovenia. KCSTV was established by the partners of the Slovenian Technology Network. The network is open to other members that share the network vision and the business orientation to technology development for the market.

 Because of the infrastructural nature of the control technology, KCSTV is closely connected with the users of this technology. The group of users includes a substantial part of large and medium companies in Slovenian economy but also elsewhere; a count of these over the projects since 2004 shows more than 40 enterprises with over 44,000 employees in total, annual revenues of approximately EUR 4 billion and exports exceeding EUR 2 billion, that took part in the execution of individual projects. They include the majority of the most prominent Slovenian enterprises.

KCSTV is second largest beneficiary of SRIP Factories of the Future, one of the largest innovation clusters (SRIP) in Slovenia, led by Jožef Stefan Institute.

Involved companies-users of services are committed to development companies that are aware of the importance of digitalization of production and are willing to actively participate in the development of new products, technologies or services in the field of management technology.

Technology controls can also be known as a procedure or policy that provides a reasonable assurance that the information technology used by an organization operates as intended, that data is reliable and the organization is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

In Information Technology, we use controls as a check on business processes and these can be physical (security cameras, badges, etc.) or logical (part of the software). The following is a very general example showing how a logical control works to support a business requirement and control the separation of duties.

Sue has rights only to change the application code in the local environment and should not have the right to change any code in the production environment. Similarly, Don is into Testing and will have rights for testing the application only. As part of the logical control, the system would function so that Sue doesn’t even see the button to migrate to production; accordingly, Don’s screen would not have the edit source code button. This control is defined both in the physical structure of the organization and in the computer logic of the system.

Industrial Incorporation of Technology Controls

With the increase in Cybersecurity attacks, many industries have been trapped in their claws ranging to a huge loss to organizations. A report on the increase in cybercrime in 2020 by StanfieldIT has analyzed the cost for cybercrime to increase by $6 trillion in the future.

The Banking Industry is one of the highly sensitive areas for hackers need to keep their Controls very safe. A study performed by Schneiderdowns has detailed banking industry IT controls. This study classifies Technology Controls as General Controls and Application controls, where General Controls include controls over data center operations, system software acquisition, and maintenance.

And application controls include computer matching and edit checks are programmed steps within application software, they are designed to help ensure the completeness and accuracy of transaction processing, authorization, and validity.

Types of Technology Controls

There are various Technology Controls that can be used to secure the information without much effort. They can be defined as follows

Firewall

A Research paper defines firewalls as “A collection of components or a system that is placed between two networks and possesses the following properties:

• All traffic from inside to outside, and vice-versa, must pass through it.
• Only authorized traffic, as defined by the local security policy, is allowed to pass through it.
• The firewall itself is immune to penetration”

The firewall represents an indispensable technical component for network security concepts today, ranging from simple packet filters all the way up to powerful solutions with the direct support of specialized industrial protocols. Firewall designs, which range from software packages for PCs to industrially hardened products in metal housings for use at the field level, are every bit as diverse. The current threat of attacks plays a large role in this because it is significant in determining the correct technology and deployment location.

It is a long time since firewalls alone have been promoted as sufficient or the only measure for securing information in industrial plants or have even been viewed as synonymous with network security. Firewalls continue to represent core elements in the segmentation of networks and therefore are an essential part of any security strategy with respect to network security.

These requirements stated above can be secured using various applications of firewalls, such as Circuit Proxy, Application Proxy.

VPN

Virtual Private Networks is a technology that creates a safe and encrypted connection on the Internet from a device to a network. This type of connection helps to ensure our sensitive data is transmitted safely. It prevents our connection from eavesdropping on the network traffic and allows the user to access a private network securely. This technology is widely used in corporate environments.

A VPN works the same as a firewall like a firewall that protects data locally to a device wherever VPNs protect data online. To ensure safe communication on the internet, data travels through secure tunnels, and VPNs users use an authentication method to gain access over the VPNs server. VPNs are used by remote users who need to access corporate resources, consumers who want to download files and business travelers want to access a site that is geographically restricted. This restricted and secure network provided by VPN is a safe way for organizations to communicate their information and imperative data. The organization should be aware of the cost and limitations before applying this technology to their workplace.

Intrusion Detection

An IDS is a security system that monitors computer systems and network traffic. It analyses traffic for possible hostile attacks originating from the outsider and also for system misuse or attacks originating from the insider.

A firewall does a job of filtering the incoming traffic from the internet, the IDS in a similar way compliments the firewall security. Like, the firewall protects an organization’s sensitive data from malicious attacks over the Internet, the Intrusion detection system alerts the system administrator in the case when someone tries to break in the firewall security and tries to have access to any network in the trusted side.

There are different types of Intrusion Detection systems that can be implemented in an organization based on the requirement. These are Network Intrusion detection system, Host based intrusion detection system, Perimeter Intrusion detection system and VM Based intrusion detection system. These can be used as per the industry and organization needs and depending on the infrastructure being used.

Access Control

Access control is a process of selecting restrictive access to a system. It is a concept in security to minimize the risk of illicit access to the business or organization. In this, users are granted access permission and certain privileges to a system and resources. Here, users must provide the credential to be granted access to a system. These credentials come in many forms such as password, keycard, the biometric reading, etc. Access control ensures security technology and access control policies to protect confidential information like customer data.

The access control can be categories into two types-

• Physical access control
• Logical access control

Physical Access Control- Physical access control limits access to buildings, rooms, campuses, and physical IT assets.

Logical access control- Logical access control limits connection to computer networks, system files, and data.

The more secure method for access control involves two – factor authentication. The first factor is that a user who desires access to a system must show credentials and the second factor could be an access code, password, and a biometric reading.

The access control consists of two main components: authorization and authentication. Authentication is a process which verifies that someone claims to be granted access whereas an authorization provides that whether a user should be allowed to gain access to a system or denied it.

Apart from basic Technology controls there are various understandings as published in different research articles, which are to be incorporated in the routine activities to ensure the security and safety of information. It is also dependent on the industry to accommodate these regular actions and secure their organizations from the flaring attacks.

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