Tamper resistant module for industrial control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016110567-A1
Application number	US-201514918558-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 20, 2015
Priority date	Oct 20, 2014
Publication date	Apr 21, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An industrial control system module and methods are described for self-destruction or the destruction and/or erasure of sensitive data within the industrial control system module upon an indication of an unauthorized module access event. In an implementation, a secure industrial control system module includes a circuit board including electrical circuitry; a sealed encasement that houses the circuit board, where the sealed encasement includes a housing having a first housing side and a second housing side, where the housing is configured to house the circuit board when the first housing side and the second housing side are coupled together; and a first sensor component integrated with the sealed encasement, where the first sensor component is communicably coupled to the circuit board and electrical circuitry and is configured to provide an indication of an unauthorized access event.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A secure industrial control system module, comprising:
a circuit board including electrical circuitry; a sealed encasement that houses the circuit board, where the sealed encasement includes a housing having a first housing side and a second housing side, where the housing is configured to house the circuit board when the first housing side and the second housing side are coupled together; and a first sensor component integrated with the sealed encasement, where the first sensor component is communicatively coupled to the circuit board and electrical circuitry and is configured to provide an indication of an unauthorized access event.

2 . The secure industrial control system module of claim 1 , wherein the electrical circuitry includes at least one of a high potential capacitor, a communication module, a backplane, a power module, a physical interconnect device, a controller, a memory, or a processor.

3 . The secure industrial control system module of claim 1 , wherein the sensor component includes at least one of an optical sensor, a thermal sensor, a vibration sensor, a sound sensor, an accelerometer, or a physical sensor.

4 . The secure industrial control system module of claim 1 , wherein the unauthorized access event includes breaching an encasement seal.

5 . The secure industrial control system module of claim 1 , further comprising:
a security module configured to implement a security action based on the indication of an unauthorized access event.

6 . The secure industrial control system module of claim 5 , wherein the security module includes a controller coupled to at least one of a high potential capacitor or a power supply.

7 . The secure industrial control system module of claim 5 , wherein the security action includes an electrical shock event.

8 . The secure industrial control system module of claim 5 , wherein the security action includes an information erasing event.

9 . The secure industrial control system module of claim 1 , further comprising:
a second sensor component that can provide an alternative indication of the physical unauthorized access event of the industrial control system module where the second sensor component is communicatively coupled to the electrical circuitry.

10 . A tamper-resistant industrial control system module, comprising:
a circuit board including electrical circuitry; a connector disposed on the circuit board; a housing having a first housing side and a second housing side, where the housing is configured to house the circuit board when the first housing side and the second housing side are coupled together, and where the housing includes at least one port configured to provide external access for the connector; and an electronic switch assembly integrated with the first housing side, where the electronic switch assembly is electrically coupled to the circuit board and electrical circuitry and is configured to be triggered by a switch trigger disposed on the second housing side.

11 . The industrial control system module of claim 10 , wherein the housing includes at least one captive fastener.

12 . The industrial control system module of claim 10 , wherein the electronic switch assembly includes high potential capacitor.

13 . A method for detecting unauthorized access of an industrial control system module contained in a sealed encasement, comprising:
receiving, using a controller, an indication of an unauthorized access event of the industrial control system module from a first sensor component; and implementing a security action, using a security module, based upon the indication of the unauthorized access event of the industrial control system module.

14 . The method for detecting unauthorized access of the industrial control system module contained in the encasement of claim 13 , wherein the unauthorized access event includes breaching an encasement seal.

15 . The method for detecting unauthorized access of the industrial control system module contained in the encasement of claim 13 , wherein the sensor component includes at least one of a light sensor, a thermal sensor, a vibration sensor, or a motion sensor.

16 . The method for detecting unauthorized access of the industrial control system module contained in the encasement of claim 13 , wherein implementing the security action includes causing an electrical surge event to occur.

17 . The method for detecting unauthorized access of the industrial control system module contained in the encasement of claim 13 , wherein implementing the security action includes implementing an encryption algorithm.

18 . The method for detecting unauthorized access of the industrial control system module contained in the encasement of claim 13 , wherein implementing the security action includes erasing information.

19 . The method for detecting unauthorized access of the industrial control system module contained in the encasement of claim 13 , wherein implementing the security action includes exposing the industrial control system module to at least one of destructive heat or a destructive electromagnetic field.

20 . The method for detecting unauthorized access of the industrial control system module contained in the encasement of claim 13 , further comprising:
receiving an additional indication of the unauthorized access event of the industrial control system module from a second sensor component.

Assignees

• Bedrock Automation Platforms Inc

Inventors

• Rooyakkers Albert
• Doucette Ken

Classifications

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• G06F21/85

  interconnection devices, e.g. bus-connected or in-line devices · CPC title

• G06F21/86 Primary

  Secure or tamper-resistant housings · CPC title

• G06F21/71

  to assure secure computing or processing of information · CPC title

• H05K5/0208

  Interlock mechanisms; Means for avoiding unauthorised use or function, e.g. tamperproof · CPC title