In recent weeks, there have been third party reports regarding security vulnerabilities of WirelessHART® systems. Emerson’s security experts have investigated and evaluated these claims. There are no known instances of successful security breaches in a customer setting to date and Emerson is doing everything possible to ensure that this remains the case. The vulnerabilities involved individuals who had physical access to the systems and disassembled the transmitter, to extract memory contents with specialized tools, in order to look for encryption keys. These concerns do not apply to manufacturers and producers with proper physical and network security practices in place.
Emerson has always suggested that customers implement the following security best practices to mitigate any potential security risk associated with the WirelessHART systems:
- Control physical access
- Change join keys
- Use an Access Control List
“We’re working with Emerson security experts, as well as engaging third party experts to help design and maintain the robust security of our products. Emerson is committed to reviewing threats as they become known, issuing notifications when necessary, and providing mitigations and solutions in a timely manner. We use opportunities like these to consistently deliver more secure products to our users,” said Melissa.
For further information on ways to mitigate risks for wireless security, see our WirelessHART System Engineering Guide, an Emerson Wireless Security whitepaper.
Or, visit our Emerson wireless security webpage.
You can also connect and interact with other wireless security experts in the Wireless group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.
For further questions, please contact Emerson at [email protected].
