Rural India might not come to mind when you imagine a modern Smart Grid of Ethernet-based substations. However, that is just what was installed in 2015 in the Northern Indian province of Haryana. Increasing demand for power from both urban and rural customers led the local utility company to extend the electric power system, adding five new substations. At the same time a new Substation Automation System, that is, a new LAN (Local Area Network) design for communication between devices, was implemented for all substations.

While there have been numerous high profile cyberattacks on industry over the past few years, their consequences have primarily been to steal information (Dragonfly, Flame, Duqu) or interrupt business operations (Shamoon). Stuxnet and the attack on the German steel mill were rare cases where a control system was disrupted as a result of a malware infection.

The top priority of control professionals is making sure that automation networks are operating reliably and safely. Security in this context involves using Defense in Depth techniques to protect critical control assets and safety systems -- as well as the entire manufacturing, process control or transportation environment.

A proper network design can be the difference between a secure, rugged process that keeps running smoothly or a nightmare that is not reliable. In a manufacturing enterprise the industrial network is often unnoticed or unappreciated. Yet a poorly designed network can take away from the bottom line.

Do you have a visual map of your Ethernet communications infrastructure? Can you quickly tell which links are up and which are down on your network? Are you notified when a rogue device is added? Do you know which devices and protocols are locked down from a security perspective?