Honeywell has announced a fully certified application control and whitelisting solution to help combat viruses and malware from attacking its Experion? Process Knowledge System (PKS) control system platform. Whitelisting is an important tool in Honeywell's evolving cyber security arsenal that protects from unwanted intrusions by permitting only applications and executable files that are considered safe and on an "approved list" to run, while blocking everything else.

"Experion PKS users want increased cyber security as well as to spend less time managing the control system," said Mike Baldi, chief cyber security architect for Honeywell Process Solutions. "Application control and whitelisting is another tool to help them balance the need for security with available resources."

Whitelisting solutions have been deployed in business IT environments for years, but their introduction into automation control systems is relatively new. Two major Honeywell control systems customers have been extensively piloting the solution through rigorous testing in specialised, mission-critical environments and providing crucial feedback on their experiences.

"Integrated business and production systems require careful design and infrastructure to ensure selective access and security. Honeywell is committed to helping customers strengthen their cyber security by providing best-in-class technology in a manageable, scalable fashion," Baldi added. "Application control and whitelisting is a good safeguard against some zero day intrusions - where defenders have no prior awareness of a vulnerability, and can enable better change management and protection against unauthorised alterations to the system configuration."

The solution is the result of an agreement between Honeywell Process Solutions and technology partner, Bit9 who is the global leader in advanced threat protection for endpoint protection and windows server security. Bit9's customers come from a wide variety of industries including e-commerce, financial services, government, healthcare, retail, technology and utilities.

Application control and whitelisting is currently available to Honeywell customers and is an additional layer of protection for industrial systems and networks, which should be part of an overall security program. Honeywell's Industrial IT Solutions' global team of experts offers a full spectrum of defense in depth solutions and services to protect automation manufacturers.