WatchGuard Adds SCADA Signatures to Firewalls

WatchGuard Technologies today announced that it has added SCADA Signatures to its next-generation firewalls and UTMs with Application Control. The SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) signatures enable WatchGuard XTM and legacy e-Series security appliances to provide threat protection for industrial control systems that monitor and control industrial, infrastructure or facility-based networks.

Major market trends are driving the need to extend enterprise network security and protection to operational technologies. Many operational technology (OT) networks are converging with information technology (IT) networks. For example, as infrastructure power grids become “smart,” they also stand exposed to similar vulnerabilities that target IP-based business networks.

“Historically, OT networks ran autonomously or were completely disconnected from IT protection and control,” said Tim Helming, Director of Product Management at WatchGuard. “However, as OT and IT networks converge, legacy OT networks become vulnerable to hackers and viruses.”

Publicity around the extremely sophisticated Stuxnet worm over the last year has raised awareness of the need to protect critical infrastructure. Stuxnet marks a new era of highly sophisticated, extremely targeted malware, and in this case, specific to a small group of industrial systems. It portends a new wave of attacks targeted to OT networks, ranging from citywide electrical power grids, traffic monitoring systems down to individual facility HVAC systems.