Security analysis of OPC UA for Industry 4.0 – Testing a modern industry protocol

Abstract

Digitalization, and in particular the increasing interconnectedness of components driven by “Industry 4.0” (smart factories), is leading to dramatic changes, with a stronger focus on cyber security. OPC UA is an industry protocol that claims to have used security by design as a driving principle during its development. During the project Security Analysis of OPC UA, the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) analysed parts of the specification as well as a reference implementation of the communications stack with regards to information security. OPC UA offers the foundations for a secure operation if the operator has configured it properly after a threat analysis of the site.