Secure Remote Access to an Industrial Generator with Mobile Devices

Industrial generators are increasingly often connected to networks to allow users to remotely control them. This greatly improves the usability, but it also introduces additional security risks. This work investigates the security considerations that must be taken into account when remotely accessing these generators. Three different remote access architectures are proposed and compared with each other with regards to security. One of these is implemented in practice and thoroughly tested. The implemented architecture includes a secure connection, as well as user, server, and device authentication. For our case study we consider the iGenerator, a stand-alone power generator that produces energy from burning rapeseed oil. An embedded device is connected to this generator using a serial connection. A Wi-Fi dongle is attached to allow remote connections.