UAE Based Oil & Gas Refinery 

Defending a refinery's legacy OT systems

UAE based oil and gas refinery
Customer:

Leading Oil & Gas refinery in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Customer Requirement:

The customer was very aware of increased attacks on ICS networks, while their operations required maintaining access to the plant’s data. Customer required that visibility to this data is maintained, but without introducing cyber risks. The refinery’s CEO had initially authorized the purchase of a data diode, but due to its technical limitations, decided a unidirectional gateway better matched their requirements and provided a higher level of protection. 

The Challenge icon
The Challenge:

The customer’s operations are locked into using an out-of-support legacy version of Wonderware Historian (AVEVA System Platform). The customer required that the unidirectional security gateway fully integrates with this legacy system, but without any changes to the legacy system itself. 

Waterfall solution - icon
Waterfall’s Unidirectional Solution:

Waterfall’s extensive connector library already supported native integration with Wonderware AVEVA System Platform, but that integration wasn’t originally designed to work with an out-of-support legacy version. Waterfall’s R&D team went to work and tailored the integration connector so that it worked flawlessly with the customer’s legacy system, and without requiring any changes to the legacy system itself. 

Unidirectional security gateway instead of a data diode for a legacy wonderware historian server for OT
Click to enlarge

The Unidirectional Security Gateway provides a continuously updated replica of the Wonderware Historian server, so that the server on the commercial IT network is only accessing the replica copy. The actual production server itself has no direct contact with the commercial IT network and data only flows out of from OT, never in.

Results and benefits - icon
Results & benefits
  • 100% Secure: Customer’s OT remains physically unbreachable to any remote threats. 
     
  • Real-time Data Visibility: Customer now has full, real-time visibility on the plant’s productions without introducing any risk to OT.

     

  • Legacy System Untouched: No changes were required to the customer’s legacy systems.

     

  • Additional Gateways: Just a few months after the initial installation, customer began the process of ordering more Waterfall Unidirectional Security Gateways for additional purposes.

     

     

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