Infotecs Virtualizes ViPNet VPN in a Docker Container for WAGO Controller PFC200

Operators of industrial manufacturing systems increasingly integrate machines and systems into their IT infrastructure as this allows the enterprises to control and continuously monitor the production flows and register the relevant data. A key technical challenge is to connect production systems to IP-based networks. In real life, such networks also become a target of cyberattacks more and more often.

In Controller PFC200 by WAGO, the secure operation of machines and systems has been made possible due to a VPN (virtual private network) solution by Infotecs GmbH, which provides a reliable end-to-end encryption. With the solution by Infotecs, the data is transferred between the controller PFC200 and the relevant remote station over a tamper-proof VPN connection. Due to this, companies are able to protect their industrial systems and still control them remotely. The required production metrics are securely transferred to the plant asset management system, which makes it possible to arrange remote maintenance access and securely manage maintenance sessions.

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“The encryption starting point is WAGO Controller PFC200, over which the status data is securely transferred within the production environment. A remote station to which the data is sent is often a SCADA or a plant asset management system located, for example, in WAGO Cloud,” explains Josef Waclaw, Infotecs CEO.

Industrial networks differ from networks in an office environment as the accessibility requirements within production systems pose a special challenge. For example, network connection breaks may happen quite often in an industrial environment. Using standard VPN solutions with asymmetric encryption can have negative consequences for the industrial production field because in this case, to create a secure connection, keys and certificates are exchanged before establishing a new connection in the network. Such standard VPN solutions with asymmetric encryption have significantly higher latency during the data transfer as compared with ViPNet VPN, which is based on symmetric encryption.

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“ViPNet VPN solution by Infotecs, virtualized in a Docker container, is available for Controller PFC200 and Visu Control Panels by WAGO. ViPNet VPN implemented on Wago devices protects the data transfer within production environments up to the endpoint and thus facilitates secure remote maintenance access to sensible industrial systems and applications. ViPNet VPN is available both as an on-premise option and as a cloud solution,” sums up Jens Sparmann, security system specialist at WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG.