Check Point Launches New ICS Security Appliance

Check Point Software Technologies announced on Tuesday the launch of a new rugged appliance designed to protect industrial control systems (ICS) against cyber threats.

Available immediately through Check Point’s global partners, the 1200R is a rugged security gateway appliance line that provides protection for SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems in remote locations and harsh environments.

Part of Check Point’s ICS/SCADA security offering, 1200R is a fully-featured gateway with six 1GbE ports and raw firewall throughput of 2 Gbps. The product supports a wide range of ICS/SCADA-specific protocols, including Siemens Step7, OPC, DNP3, BACNet, IEC-60870-5-104, IEC 60870-6 (ICCP), IEC 61850, Profinet, MMS, and Modbus.

Since it’s designed for use in harsh environments, such as plant floors, the appliance is compliant with IEC 61850-3, IEEE 1613 and IEC 60068-2 industrial specifications for heat, vibration, and immunity to electromagnetic interference. The 1200R is capable of operating in temperatures ranging between -40°C and 75°C, Check Point said.

The solution provides full visibility and granular control of SCADA traffic via a next-generation firewall, logging capabilities for forensic analysis of incidents, and compliance monitoring. The appliance is designed to detect and block exploitation of ICS component vulnerabilities with intrusion prevention system (IPS) signatures.

In addition to the firewall and IPS, the 1200R appliance also leverages anti-malware capabilities to detect and prevent inbound threats to SCADA networks, the vendor said.

“ICS protection is not to be taken lightly. Once cybercriminals gain access to a control system, damage is inevitable. The result of an ICS breach will be devastating – and it’s not a question of ‘if it happens,’ but ‘when it happens,’ which is why Check Point is dedicated to proactively protecting ICS to prevent such catastrophic events,” said Dorit Dor, vice president of products at Check Point. “The 1200R appliance is a new security gateway optimized for deployment in the harshest of industrial environments and remote locations to support ICS/SCADA and deliver what we see as unmatched security to a nation’s most precious assets.”

Threat actors are increasingly targeting ICS using malware such as Havex and BlackEnergy. A report released by ICS-CERT earlier this year reveals that a total of 245 incidents were reported to the organization in 2014. More than half of the attacks reported to ICS-CERT involved advanced persistent threats (APTs).

Related: Learn More at the 2015 ICS Cyber Security Conference