CYBERSECURITY
Working ringside
Every software has security vulnerabilities. Given the complexity of today’s systems, this can no longer be
avoided. It is crucial that these gaps are closed up as quickly as possible once they become known. This is
where our own Product Security Incident Response Team, PSIRT for short, works exclusively for the products
in the mGuard family. This rapid response force sifts through and analyzes possible security gaps on a daily
basis. And if you think that would be a cause for boredom, just know that hundreds of security vulnerabilities
are discovered and documented every day!
After filtering which messages involve their own products, the experts analyze the effects the gap can have,
sometimes down to the source code level. If the message is identified as a serious threat, the highest priority
level is given and every effort is made to rectify the situation immediately.
If, on the other hand, the threat is not time-critical, say if only one of the many security walls has fallen,
then a security patch will be applied with the next regular update to close this gap. “This work in the
background constitutes the actual quality in our safety management,” explains Martin Dickopp. “Our
customers’ networks stay secure without them having to worry, because we work discreetly in the
background.” Cyber fighters in the shadows...
Arms race
If you want to to protect data,
you need to think internation-
ally. After land, air, sea, and
space, cyberspace is now
becoming a battleground
Cyber Security. Today, the Phoenix Contact subsidiary
has a good 40 employees. The Berlin location develops and
improves security software, and customer support staff work
on integrated solutions including training, while the mGuard
“Cybersecurity
shouldn’t come at the
end of a development
cycle — it should come
at the beginning.”
hardware is assembled in Bad Pyrmont.
Everyone is vulnerable
The “mGuard” network security devices have functionalities
that support router, firewall, VPN (Virtual Private Network),
QoS (Quality of Service), and intrusion detection. The scope
of services is complemented by a highly scalable device
management software. “mGuard has more than 1,000
configuration options, and is therefore one of the most
complex products in the entire Phoenix Contact portfolio,”
explains Martin Dickopp with confidence.
“An absolute protection,” says Dickopp, “doesn’t exist
Kilian Golm
anyway. Everyone is vulnerable. But we try to make the level
of intrusion so high that the effort for an attacker becomes too
much to bother with.”
20
UPDATE 4/20
The Phoenix Contact innovation magazine