Thin client terminals are more secure than PCs because they have no hard drives or CD/DVD drives that allow users to place data onto their systems. ThinManager-ready thin clients have their USB ports disabled by default which completely locks down our thin clients from users loading viruses, games or other malicious content.
ThinManager was mentioned in a recent LinkedIn Post from InSource Solutions about how thin client technology is more manageable, scalable and mobile.
Below are excerpts written by Jason Paquette, Product Marketing Manager at InSource Solutions, from his post regarding thin client management and mobility with an HMI.
By the very nature of design, thin client networks offer superior security to PC-based networks, hands down. No local storage and no access to removable drives make ThinManager thin clients “data safe” work terminals. If stolen or damaged, these terminals will not lose any data. The same applies to mobile devices using ThinManager’s Relevance® mobility solution.
Apart from the hardware design, there are several other factors that determine how secure your thin client installation will remain. Network port settings, authentication methods and encryption all play a part in your security strategy. ACP has just released an updated security white paper that discusses these other factors in order to give our end users a well-rounded knowledge of best practices and settings that will ensure your thin client network stays secure.
ThinManager’s zero client computing has always been the most secure way to deliver content to your plant floor terminals. The industry leading security of ThinManager now offers the only location-based mobile platform that allows you to create & configure secure “walls” around your data and applications using location resolvers. You gain complete control of the floor through their configuration. We call this location-based technology Relevance.
Location resolvers in Relevance are used to define locations throughout your plant. Examples of defined locations can be as broad as the entire network, a tethered thin client terminal, or a defined “geo-fenced” area. Relevance uses technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, NFC and QR Codes to let administrators define an unlimited number of locations.
Data Security – not just a buzzword. Today we know all too well that our data is important and keeping it secure and safe is often even more important.
This video focuses on the security and data safety in ThinManager. ThinManager gives you complete control in your production environment over who sees what, where and when. Secure data management has always been in the forefront when creating ThinManager. Our location-based resolvers create “Geo-Fences” for total security when integrating mobility in to your production environment.
With so much sensitive data and information out there in your network applications and tech these days, security and proof of identity are of the utmost importance. When people think security with technology they think first about user authentication. Most likely they think usernames and passwords, maybe pass-codes as on most mobile devices.
In a modern factory or production environment using ThinManager, there are several options at your disposal to make user authentication fast and amazingly safe and secure. ThinManager syncs with your existing Windows network Active Directory to provide an easy entry to your users and user authentication.
When you think about IP Cameras in your work environment, what comes to mind? You might think of monitoring safety and security of the facility. That is a completely valid thought. For many facilities that is likely the main reason that cameras were put in to place.
IP Camera use, especially in the last 5 years, has given way to much more. A new focus in a modern production environment is “increased visualization”. Increasing visualization can spawn from anything that makes you more productive by way of seeing more information. The use of cameras allows you to have an in-depth feel for an environment, not just a view of the screen at the terminal.
Every Friday, we dedicate this space to sharing solutions for some of the most frequently asked questions posed to our ThinManager Technical Support team. This weekly feature will help educate ThinManager Platform users and provide them with answers to questions they may have about licenses, installation, integration, deployment, upgrades, maintenance, and daily operation. Great technical support is an essential part of the ThinManager Platform, and we are constantly striving to make your environment as productive and efficient as possible.
Every Friday, we dedicate this space to sharing solutions for some of the most frequently asked questions posed to our ThinManager Technical Support team. This weekly feature will help educate ThinManager Platform users and provide them with answers to questions they may have about licenses, installation, integration, deployment, upgrades, maintenance, and daily operation. Great technical support is an essential part of the ThinManager Platform, and we are constantly striving to make your environment as productive and efficient as possible.
Over the last few months, we have been hearing more and more about the Stuxnet Worm. Originating in 2007, it became a topic of conversation in the main stream media after its global deployment in 2010. At the time, Symantec reported that less than 2% of all known Stuxnet infections were on machines in the United States. Now, almost two years later, it is once again front and center for both its relationship to the newly discovered Flame malware, and recent surge in infecting new networks and machines.
There is a new villain in the computer virus world and it is from the Stuxnet family of malware. The Stuxnet attack exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows software, WinCCConnect, which is an integral component of the distributed control and SCADA systems that facilitate production operations in many process-manufacturing companies. The vulnerability would allow the virus to extract process data and possibly HMI screens.
The director and chief economist of the independent watchdog The US Cyber Consequences Unit Scott Borg says “Either the attacker is planning on stealing very valuable information or they are going to use this access to the control system to do bad things.” The virus’s purpose seems to be what can only be termed as industrial espionage as attackers could steal information on how plants are run to possibly extort money or influence manufacturers by taking away the competitive edge with the information obtained.