With the rising connectivity of production processes, embedded security is becoming indispensable in the manufacturing environment. Embedded services specialist Hitex is now offering microcontroller-based solutions for industrial control systems. Combined with ESCRYPT’s security software stack, CycurHSM, these solutions cover all the required cybersecurity functions.
Smart, connected factories place higher demands on IT security. Increasing levels of connectivity and addressability of the systems via Internet Protocol (IP) also increases the risk of unauthorized access to control software or sensitive company information.
As a leading provider of embedded services in industrial settings, Hitex expressly takes system security into account, in addition to functional safety, for its tools and engineering services. That is why Hitex has teamed up with the embedded security specialists at ESCRYPT: to equip the latest Infineon AURIX™ multicore microcontrollers, designed for use in production environments, with the CycurHSM software stack.
What makes this solution so special is that the security functions are physically encapsulated in a separate hardware security module, or HSM, on the AURIX™ controller. This allows the host controller to devote its full power to its own tasks. At the same time, CycurHSM can execute the necessary security functions on the HSM – data encryption and authentication, secure booting, flashing, and debugging, or even runtime manipulation detection, which monitors the authenticity of the application software during runtime.
Jörg Stender, Managing Director at Hitex, says, “Our collaboration with ESCRYPT reflects what today’s connected production environment requires in terms of cybersecurity: A hardware-based security package that protects systems from the inside out, as well as consulting and engineering expertise for planning and implementing cybersecurity effectively in the plant.”
Raimund Stampa, Product Manager for CycurHSM at ESCRYPT, adds: “The combination of the high-end hardware platform AURIX™ and our innovative HSM software sets the standard for information security in the smart factory of today and tomorrow. Our collaboration with Hitex shows that industrial security is most successful when partners have thought it through together.”