Cybersecurity and Safety for OpreX Control and Safety| ARC Advisory

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced that it has obtained ISASecure CSA Level 1 certification from the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI) for its CENTUM VP integrated production control system, a product in the OpreX Control and Safety System family. For CENTUM VP to qualify for ISASecure CSA Level 1 certification, a cyclic redundancy check function has been added that periodically diagnoses the integrity of the programs and databases on a plant's field control stations. If an error is detected, a system alarm is issued.

With this certification, Yokogawa's CENTUM VP integrated production control system and ProSafe-RS safety instrumented system now both conform to the latest international security standards. The ProSafe-RS safety instrumented system, which conforms to safety integrity level SIL3, and the ProSafe-RS Lite, which meets SIL2 standards, obtained ISASecure CSA Level 1 certification in May and July 2021, respectively.

The company has also developed an enhanced version of ProSafe-RS Lite that meets both explosion protection and marine standards, and an updated version of the Plant Resource Manager (PRM) software that supports this latest version of the ProSafe-RS Lite.

In line with efforts to enhance safety, ProSafe-RS R4.07 has been developed, as a result of which ProSafe-RS Lite now meets both explosion-protection standards (ATEX/IECEx/ECAS-Ex) and marine standards. This means that this SIL2 system can be installed in plants and facilities where there is a risk of explosions, and on LNG carriers and other vessels. By using it together with the SIL3-certified ProSafe-RS, which also meets both sets of standards, it is possible to optimize the cost of plant safety instrumentation based on the application. In addition, PRM R4.05 has been developed to support devices that are connected to ProSafe-RS Lite. PRM uses IT to detect signs of impending equipment malfunctions so that operators can be notified and take preemptive action, thus reducing the risk of failures.