Controller system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12130911-B2
Application number	US-201917284784-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2019
Priority date	Nov 28, 2018
Publication date	Oct 29, 2024
Grant date	Oct 29, 2024

Abstract

The present invention addresses the novel problem of protecting against threats that can arise as a result of the development of networked or intelligent control devices and control systems. This controller system includes: a control unit that executes a control operation for controlling a control target; and a security unit that is connected to the control unit and oversees and manages security functions for the controller system. The security unit includes a detection means that detects whether any unauthorized intrusion into the controller system has occurred. The control unit includes a command transmission means that transmits commands for changing the behavior of the detection means of the security unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A controller system comprising:
a control unit that executes control calculation for controlling a control target;
a security unit that is connected to the control unit and oversees and manages security functions for the controller system; and
a support device capable of accessing at least the control unit,
wherein the security unit comprises a detection means for detecting whether or not any unauthorized intrusion into the controller system has occurred,
wherein the control unit comprises a command transmission means for transmitting commands for changing a behavior of the detection means of the security unit in response to a detection of the unauthorized intrusion into the controller system,
in response to the detection of the unauthorized intrusion into the controller system, the control unit executes a primary response which includes a continuation response, a degeneration response, or a stoppage response, and
when the primary response is executed and an incident occurs, the control unit executes an incident response according to an incident characteristic of the incident,
wherein the support device has a plurality of model settings defining typical behaviors of a control operation, and reflects any of the plurality of model settings in the control unit in response to a user operation, each of the plurality of model settings is associated with a facility category, and the support device selects and reflects a corresponding model setting in accordance with a user's selection of a facility.

2. The controller system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the commands for changing the behavior of the detection means comprise a command for recovering detection of the unauthorized intrusion in the detection means.

3. The controller system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the commands for changing the behavior of the detection means comprise a command for changing a level at which the detection means detects whether or not the unauthorized intrusion has occurred.

4. The controller system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the command transmission means transmits the commands for changing the behavior of the detection means in response to a user operation.

5. The controller system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control unit is configured to execute a user program comprising instructions related to the control calculation, and
wherein the user program comprises an instruction for transmitting the commands for changing the behavior of the detection means.

6. The controller system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the security unit further comprises
a presentation means for presenting, to a user, a security risk calculated on the basis of a detection operation of the detection means.

7. The controller system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the incident characteristic includes a type of the detected unauthorized intrusion, and
the type of the detected unauthorized intrusion comprises at least one of a random alteration, a resource exhaustion, and a DDOS attack.

8. The controller system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the incident characteristic comprises an urgency level of detected unauthorized intrusion.

9. A controller system comprising:
a control unit that executes control calculation for controlling a control target;
a security unit that is connected to the control unit and oversees and manages security functions for the controller system; and
a support device capable of accessing at least the control unit,
wherein the security unit comprises a detection means for detecting whether or not any unauthorized intrusion into the controller system has occurred,
wherein the control unit is configured to execute control calculation in response to a detection of the unauthorized intrusion by the detection means,
wherein the support device receives a setting related to the control calculation executed by the control unit in response to the detection of the unauthorized intrusion by the detection means,
in response to the detection of the unauthorized intrusion into the controller system, the control unit executes a primary response which includes a continuation response, a degeneration response, or a stoppage response, and
when the primary response is executed and an incident occurs, the control unit executes an incident response according to an incident characteristic of the incident,
wherein the support device has a plurality of model settings defining typical behaviors of a control operation, and reflects any of the plurality of model settings in the control unit in response to a user operation, each of the plurality of model settings is associated with a facility category, and the support device selects and reflects a corresponding model setting in accordance with a user's selection of a facility.

10. The controller system according to claim 9 ,
wherein the support device receives designation of a program to be executed by the control unit when the unauthorized intrusion is detected by the detection means.

11. The controller system according to claim 10 ,
wherein the support device receives designation of a type of unauthorized intrusion as a condition on which the program is executed by the control unit.

12. The controller system according to claim 9 ,
wherein the support device presents one or a plurality of questions to a user via an interactive interface, and selects and reflects a target model setting among the plurality of model settings in accordance with the user's selection for each question.

13. The controller system according to claim 6 ,
wherein the presentation means comprises an indicator for visually presenting the security risk.

14. The controller system according to claim 6 ,
wherein the presentation means comprises a voice generation part for aurally presenting the security risk.

15. The controller system according to claim 6 ,
wherein the presentation means changes a presentation aspect depending on a degree of the calculated security risk.

Assignees

• Omron Tateisi Electronics Co

Inventors

• Oka Minoru
• Yamamoto Masayuki
• Kojima Satoshi
• Okumura Tsuyoshi
• Muneta Yasuo
• Tahara Yutaka
• Okamura Kotaro
• NAGATA Yuta

Classifications

• G06F2221/034

  Test or assess a computer or a system · CPC title

• G06F21/57

  Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities · CPC title

• G05B2219/14006

  Safety, monitoring in general · CPC title

• G05B19/058 Primary

  Safety, monitoring · CPC title

• G06F21/554 Primary

  involving event detection and direct action · CPC title