Security-informed safety

Traditionally, safety and security have been treated as separate disciplines, with their own regulation, standards, culture and engineering but this is increasingly becoming infeasible.

There is a growing realisation that security and safety are closely interconnected: it is no longer acceptable to assume that a safety system is immune from malware because it is built using bespoke hardware and software, or that it cannot be attacked because it is separated from the outside world by an "air gap". In reality, the existence of the air gap is often a myth and safety systems are built using commodity hardware and software, connected together and communicating with each other using off-the-shelf network equipment and standard communication protocols. Thus, safety systems operate in an open environment and they need to be secure in order to be safe.

To understand more about cyber issues on safety critical and safety related computer systems please see the articles and videos below.

If you would like to understand more about security in safety critical computer controlled systems and what standards may be applicable to your project, please contact us or join our Security-informed safety training course.