A Blind Spot in ICS Security: The Protocol Gateway [Part 1] – Importance of the Protocol Gateway


A protocol gateway is a small network device, also called a “protocol converter” or “IoT gateway.” It is similar to an “interpreter” in the digital word, and acts as a communications intermediary between different protocols. As the integration of networks accelerates with IoT, protocol conversion grows increasingly important. However, the security of protocol gateways has not been fully verified so far. Focusing on potential protocol gateway security risks, Trend Micro released a white paper summarizing these risks on August 6, 2020.

In this blog series, based on the results of this research, we will analyze the impacts of the serious vulnerabilities detected in the protocol gateways essential when shifting to smart factories, and we will propose the security countermeasures that security administrators in those factories must take. In the first of this series, Part 1 describes the importance of the protocol gateway in ICS environments, and sets the scope of this research.

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Source: Trend Micro