System for detection and indication of a secure status of appliances

• US 7,472,417 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2003
• Issued: 12/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Gerlach, Hendrik, Talanis, Thomas, Volkmann, Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): Chai, Longbit
• Application Number:
  US10/662,811
• Publication Number:
  US 20040125146A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,932 Days
• Field of Search: 726/23
• US Class Current: 726/23
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4184 characterised by fault tolerance, reliability of production system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/552 involving long-term monitoring or reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/74 operating in dual or compartmented mode, i.e. at least one secure mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2105 Dual mode as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2145 Inheriting rights or properties, e.g., propagation of permissions or restrictions within a hierarchy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A system and method detect and display a security status of appliances, in particular automation appliances and/or systems. The appliances have a detector mechanism for identification of a security status, as well as an external display and an internal display for the respective status. The internal display can be accessed with the aid of simple network management protocols via a management information base. The status of the internal display is passed on via a data transmission apparatus within the system, and is processed with the aid of a central security server for automation. Joint displays can display the security status of the respective lower-level appliances and/or appliance complexes at any desired hierarchy level in the system. Appliances without any security function can be integrated in the system by a representative.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a security status detector disposed on an inside of an automation appliance, the security status detector detecting a current security status of the automation appliance within which the detector is disposed;

an external display disposed directly on an outside of the automation appliance, the external display displaying the current security status of the automation appliance directly on an outside of the automation appliance upon which the external display is disposed;

an internal display disposed on the inside of the automation appliance, the internal display displaying the current security status of the automation appliance within the inside of the automation appliance; and

a transmission unit to transmit security status data between other automation appliances in a network of automation appliances such that the current security status data can be subjected to data processing in the network of automation appliances;

wherein a joint display of the system displays a security status of respective low-level appliance complexes at any desired hierarchy level according to a system structure in a form of internal and external displays.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the appliances are automation appliances.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the external display visually displays the current security status.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an access unit to run automation user programs on the internal display.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an internal-information base to provide access to the current security status from the network of appliances via standard protocols, access to the current security status being provided by the internal display.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a joint display to display an overall security status of a plurality of appliances, respectively having their internal displays linked.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the joint display is an external visual display.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein

there are a plurality of joint displays, each displaying the status of a different plurality of appliances, and

the overall security status is passed on from the joint display to a higher-level joint display that displays an overall security status of the appliances communicating with the joint displays.

9. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein

there are a plurality of joint displays, each displaying the status of a different plurality of appliances, and

a server is provided for administration and display of the respective status of the joint displays.

10. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the current security status of the internal display can be simulated such that the internal display is active even without the appliance-internal unit detecting the current security status.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein

a portion of the appliances have internal security mechanisms,

a portion of the appliances are without internal security mechanisms, and

the system integrates appliances without internal security mechanisms with appliances that have internal security mechanisms.

12. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transmission unit transmits the current security status via an Intranet and/or the Internet.

13. A method for display and detection of a current security status of an appliance comprising:

disposing a security status detector on an inside of the appliance, the security status detector detecting the current security status of the appliance within which the detector is disposed;

disposing an external display directly on an outside of the appliance, the external display displaying the current security status of the appliance directly on an outside of the appliance upon which the external display is disposed;

disposing an internal display on the inside of the appliance, the internal display displaying the current security status of the appliance within the inside of the appliance; and

transmitting security status data between other appliances in a network of appliances such that the current security status data can be subjected to data processing in the network of appliances; and

wherein a joint display of the system displays a security status of respective low-level appliance complexes at any desired hierarchy level according to a system structure in a form of internal and external displays.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the appliances are automation appliances.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the current security status is displayed visually.

16. The method as claimed in claim 13 wherein an access unit provides automation user programs with access an internal display unit that displays the current security status on the inside of the appliance.

17. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the current security status is checked by standard protocols via an appliance-internal information base.

18. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein

two or more appliances are linked, and

the method further comprises displaying an overall security status of the two or more appliances.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the overall security status is displayed externally and visually.

20. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein

the overall security status is displayed on a joint display,

there are a plurality of joint displays, each displaying the status of a different plurality of appliances, and

the overall security status is passed on from the joint display to a higher-level joint display that displays an overall security status of the appliances communicating with the joint displays the joint displays are linked to hierarchically higher-level joint displays.

21. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein

the overall security status is displayed on a joint display,

there are a plurality of joint displays, each displaying the status of a different plurality of appliances, and

a server is provided for administration and display of the respective status of the joint displays the status of each of the joint displays is displayed and administered by at least one server.

22. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the current security status of an internal display unit can be simulated such that the appliance operates at an assumed security status when the current security status of the appliance cannot be detected.

23. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein

a portion of the appliances have internal security mechanisms,

a portion of the appliances are without internal security mechanisms, and

the method further comprises integrating appliances without internal security mechanisms with appliances that have internal security mechanisms.

24. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the data is transmitted via an Intranet and/or the Internet.

25. An automation appliance for display of a current security status, having

a security status detector on an inside of the automation appliance, the security status detector detecting the current security status of the automation appliance within which the detector is disposed;

an appliance-internal unit disposed on the inside of the automation appliance to detect the current security status of the automation appliance in a format readable by other internal devices within the automation appliance and displaying the current security status of the automation appliance within the inside of the automation appliance;

an external display disposed directly on an outside of the automation appliance to display the current security status of the automation appliance directly on an outside of the appliance; and

a transmission unit to transmit security status data between other automation appliances in a network of automation appliances such that the current security status data can be subjected to data processing in the network of automation appliances; and

wherein a joint display of the system displays a security status of respective low-level appliance complexes at any desired hierarchy level according to a system structure in a form of internal and external displays.

26. The automation appliance as claimed in claim 25, wherein the external display visually displays the current security status.

27. The automation appliance as claimed in claim 25, further comprising an access unit to run automation user programs on the internal display.

28. The automation appliance as claimed in claim 25, further comprising an internal-information base to provide external access to the current security status via standard protocols.

29. The automation appliance as claimed in claim 25, wherein the internal display functions as an input for other devices within the appliance.