Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced of obtaining ISASecure CSA Level 1 certification from the ISA Security Compliance Institute 1 (ISCI) for its ProSafeTM-RS safety instrumented system, a product in the OpreXTM Control and Safety System family. This is the first time a safety instrumented system has obtained this certification.

Yokogawa has long emphasised the importance of cyber security with its safety instrumented systems, and this certification is expected to give customers even greater confidence in the use of this product.

Cyberattacks are on the rise worldwide and are growing ever more sophisticated. In recent years, a number of attacks have targeted industrial control devices, resulting in lost production and the theft of information. In August 2017, a malware attack on a safety instrumented system was reported, and this has led to a call for enhanced cyber security measures to deal with the threat to these systems, which play a pivotal role in ensuring plant safety.

Yokogawa’s ProSafe-RS safety instrumented system is certified for use in safety integrity level 3 (SIL3) applications. With regards to cyber security, it has held ISASecure EDSA certification since 2013. Replacing this certification program, ISASecure CSA certifies compliance with the IEC62443-4-2 and IEC62443-4-1 international standards pertaining to control device security. Receipt of this certification indicates that a product has been recognised by a third party as having security controls that conform to these international standards. Yokogawa also plans to obtain ISASecure CSA certification for the ProSafe-RS Lite SIL2 safety instrumented system, which was released in January of this year.

Through its development of highly-secure control devices and systems as well as the provision of support services, Yokogawa offers its customers a wide range of security solutions. Yokogawa will leverage this certification to accelerate its efforts to enhance the cyber security of its customers’ plant operations.

Developed by the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI), the ISASecure CSA certification program focuses on the security of embedded devices and related components (software applications, host devices, and network devices). The ISCI’s members come mainly from the International Society of Automation, and the principal activity of this organisation is the promotion of security certification for industrial control systems and control devices. The ISASecure CSA certification program was launched in August 2019, replacing the ISASecure EDSA certification program. It complies with the International Electrotechnical Commission’s IEC 62443-4-2 and IEC 62443-4-1 international standards for security in control devices.