Virus Protection and Data Security.....

Hi friends,

I have a query regarding virus protection and Data Security. Actually there are two separate networks in our Plant.
1. Control Network
2. Office Network

Control Network is the one which connects all PLCs and FTView SCADA. Office Network is where all Office PCs are connected and from where they also access Internet.

Now i am creating a Visual Basic application which will fetch live PLC data and show it at Management Level. So if Management wants to view this data there is definitely a need to connect these two networks. My worry is that the Control network shall not get affected by the Virus' and also there is a issue of Data security.
So if anyone can help me on how can i protect PLCs from Virus' or can provide info on similar kind of cases where it has been done.

Thanks,

I would not ever connect the plant control network to the office network. If managemnet wants to see data that much, then they should have a control network installed in their office and connect to it with a different computer.

Does management want some small convenience, or a safely operating plant that cannot be hacked into?

You can always add a gateway computer, locked down, with one adapter on the controls network, and one on the enterprise network.

Block all ports except those used by your application, and use the gateway box strictly as a store-and-forward. You can still get near real-time data if you use the gateway to collect and forward to a standard SQL database.