Desing of a local area network with Allen Bradley PLCs and PanelView HMIs to establish communication between devices

Abstract

(English) With developments in Industrial Automation comes the need to protect PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) systems from hacking attacks. Since all devices in a plant are typically connected on an ethernet network, they can be vulnerable from attacks if the network is not secured. Malware developers usually target the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system as a point of entry. This problem with cybersecurity must be handled in modern systems. This project can act as a testbed for the protection of PLC and HMI (Human Machine Interface) systems from hacking attacks. This has been examined in limited scope, so further developments will be necessary in future projects. In this report some of the latest technology released by Rockwell Automation, a well known automation product distributor, will be examined, proved and used to create a network that could be similar to one you could find in industry.