The Advantages of an Integrated Factory Acceptance Test in an ICS Environment

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04/27/11

Abstract:

When adding, modifying or upgrading a system, many critical infrastructures conduct a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT). A FAT includes a customized testing procedure for systems and is executed before the final installation at the critical facility.  Because it is difficult to predict the correct operation of the safety instrumented system or consequences due to failures in some parts of the safety instrumented system, a FAT provides a valuable check of these safety issues.  Similarly, since cyber security can also impact safety of critical systems if a system is compromised, it naturally makes sense to integrate cyber security with the FAT, a concept that brings extreme value and savings to an implementation process.

An Integrated Factory Acceptance Test (IFAT) is a testing activity that brings together selected components of major control system vendors and Industrial Control System (ICS) plant personnel in a single space for validation and testing of a subset of the control system network and security application environment in an ICS environment.  Conducting an IFAT provides important advantages and benefits including:  time savings, cost savings, improved ability to meet compliance requirements, and increased comfort level with integrated security solutions.

Authors:

• Jerome Farquharson, Critical Infrastructure and Compliance Practice Manager, Burns & McDonnell
• Alexandra Wiesehan, Cyber Security Analyst, Burns & McDonnell
   

An IFAT provides significant advantages and benefits:

1. It will allow plants to better meet compliance requirements with vendor’s support implementing a single solution resulting in a cohesive network environment.
2. It saves time from an implementation schedule during an outage because many of the cyber security design are validated in a lab.
3. It increases the confidence level of both the plant and vendor of the proposed solution and provides proof that concepts actually work.
4. ICS personnel are better positioned to accept and support existing vendor security solutions. The proposed vendor’s solution can prove both system and network integration with other ICS and IT systems