Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories announced the addition of integrated physical security capabilities to its SEL-3622 Security Gateway. These new capabilities enhance operator awareness of physical tampering to field control cabinets in addition to cybersecurity threats.
The new technology provides added visibility and faster response times for potential physical security breaches in recloser and voltage regulator control cabinets. SEL designed and built the physical awareness sensor technology as part of the Padlock cooperative project with the U.S. Department of Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, and Sandia National Laboratories.
The SEL-3622 Security Gateway.
With its enabled physical sensor components, the SEL-3622 will now be able to alert on possible malicious physical activity. The SEL-3622 detects sudden movement (through an embedded accelerometer), sudden changes in visible light (through an embedded light sensor), the opening of cabinet doors (through an input sensor), and the connection and disconnection of Ethernet cables to warn owner-operators of potential tampering. Physical awareness data can be sent through a variety of mechanisms, including Simple Network Management Protocol, Syslog messages, and toggling of an alarm contact output.
“The vulnerability of field cabinets to physical tampering is a growing concern,” said SEL’s Rhett Smith, senior product manager in the Wired Networks Department of R&D. “The SEL-3622 is the first security gateway product to merge physical tampering awareness with advanced cybersecurity infrastructure, providing enhanced situational awareness for power system operators to make the most informed decision on each trouble ticket.”
The advanced technology is available in all new SEL-3622 gateway products or available as a free software upgrade to existing users. For more information on the features, benefits, and applications of the SEL-3622, SEL’s cybersecurity solutions, or the DOE’s Cybersecurity for Energy Delivery Systems (CEDS) programs, visit www.selinc.com/p210
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
www.selinc.com
Filed Under: News
