Kazio Networks

I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to our partners. They complement our industrial network services with their excellent products.

The global leader in secure communication technologies that simplify remote access, management, and control of virtually any electronic device regardless of location.

The leading manufacturer of switches, routers and more. Cisco Systems designs, manufactures and sells Internet protocol (IP)-based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology (IT) industry, and provides services associated with these products and their use.

Net Optics is the global leader in passive monitoring access for security and network management applications. Their innovative family of hardware products enables companies to access and monitor their network using the latest Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems, Protocol Analyzers, and Network Probes.

Provider of Industrial Grade Fiber Optic Converters and Ethernet Switches. Formerly called Weed Instruments, they provide data interface options for Industrial Ethernet, ControlNet, DeviceNet, Profibus, Modbus, Modbus Plus, Data Highway Plus, DH-485, Genius, Remote I/O, RS232/484, Reliance R-Net, 4-20mA and 0-10V.

Black Box Network Services is the world’s largest independent provider of communications, infrastructure, and product solutions. They offer over 118,000 technology products to fit your communications and infrastructure networking needs.

Transition Networks, Inc. offers networking connectivity solutions that make networks perform better, faster and more reliably while helping companies leverage their existing networking infrastructure. The company’s Transition Networks brand of media converters makes conversion between disparate media types possible; providing conversion technology solutions that offer the necessary adaptations without affecting the performance, nature or appearance of the network. These media conversion technologies are offered across a broad spectrum of networking protocols including Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit, T1/E1, DS3, ATM, V.35 and many more. They have an extensive range of Industrial Ethernet products for hardened and extreme environments.

Shop for Lantronix, Transition Networks and Cisco products at our online store. Alternatively, you can contact us by phone or through our online form for any of the above brand specific quotes/ quantities.

Browsing some discussions and references on twitter, here are recent articles emphasizing the fact that Security in Control Systems is something not to be taken lightly.

Hackers Penetrating Control Systems (PC World)
Hackers Penetrating Industrial Control Systems (Computer World Security)
R&D work vulnerable to cyber threats (Federal Computer Week)
Control Systems Cyber Security – The Current Status of Cyber Security of Critical Infrastructures (Joseph Weiss’ testimony to the Members of Congress dated March 19, 2009)

Around the web

Cyber Security Procurement Language for Control Systems Version 1.8 (MSISA)
Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MSISA)
Research Challenges for the Security of Control Systems (University of California, Berkeley)
Advances Needed in Control System Cyber Security (ControlGlobal.com)
Guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security (NIST)
A Summary of Control System Security Standards Activities in the Energy Sector (Department of Energy)

Any other links that you want to share, let us know in the comments and we will add it to the list.

TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) has released the TIA-568-C.0/ C.1 standard. This replaces the older (but commonly used) TIA-568-B.1 and its addenda.

The standards doc. TIA-568-C.0 and C.1 will be combined with the TIA-568-C.3 Fiber Optic Cabling Components Standards (published mid ‘08) and TIA-568-C.2, Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components Standard (release date: TBA) to form the “TIA-568-C suite of standards”.

What does TIA-568-C standards give you over the older TIA 568-B?

The new standard will be more of a generic structured cable document emphasizing on efficiency and effectiveness. It aims to put all common cabling information within a single source; allowing cable usage in different types of facilities and premises within a multi product/ multi vendor environment. The TIA-568-C.0 standards document will cover cabling requirements, structure, topologies, distances, installation, performance and testing.

TIA-568-C suite of standards breakdown:

TIA-568-C.0 Generic Telecommunications Cabling for Customer Premises
TIA-568-C.1 Commercial Building Telecommunication Cabling Standards – Part 1 General Requirements
TIA-568-C.2 Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components Standard (release date: TBA)
TIA-568-C.3 Optical Fiber Cabling Components Standard

Here is a podcast from TIA’s Henry Cuschieri and TR-42 Telecommunications Cabling Systems Engineering Committee Chair Herb Congdon, Manager of Standards and Technology for AMP NETCONNECT Systems at Tyco Electronics, discussing the recent updates to TR-42 cabling infrastructure standards, the recent updates to TR-42 cabling infrastructure standards, the work underway in the committee’s Green Issues Task Force, including the revision of the Building Automation Standard (BAS) TIA-568-C series.

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Press Release

TIA Online

Purchase TIA-568-C.0, TIA-568-C.1, TIA-568-C.3 here.

Wireless power is a pretty intriguing technology that has been lingering within the electronics industry but has often been deemed more gimmicky (than useful). The wireless electricity theory has been around for more than 100 years with engineer/ inventor Nikola Tesla’s wireless radio/power experiments of the early 20th Century; so it is nothing new but more of a reinvented technology. (more…)

Cisco is getting pretty innovative. They just released a comic book style 4 part animation series called The Realm. It’s about a group of Cisco engineers battling the evils of network security within the world. This is launched to coincide with their industry conference next month.

Each episode raises issues surrounding security threats, like identity theft and malware, that are averted by comic book heroes, said Marie Hattar, VP of marketing. “The idea was, it would drive the readership to look for products that could [protect them] in real life,” she added.

Taping into the stereotypical security person’s love of comic books and online games, this may proof to be a gimmicky (but effective) effort.