Waldkirch/Hanover – Today at the Hanover Fair, SICK AG (SICK) and the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) signed a cooperation agreement for performing the verification and testing tasks associated with the certification of data gateways. SICK will in future be making its established infrastructure for verification and testing work available to guarantee the security of data spaces.
In future, SICK will be performing verification and testing tasks on behalf of the IDSA in order to guarantee a trusted data exchange in data spaces. This was agreed today at the Hanover Fair by representatives of IDSA and SICK AG. The supplier of intelligent sensor solutions is the second company in the world to offer these certified verification and testing tasks for the IDSA.
SICK has tested the cybersecurity of several products in recent years and thereby gained a wealth of experience. The company will in future be making available its established infrastructure for verification and testing work, testing products from other market participants based on the certification criteria of the IDSA, and approving these for use in international, cross-industry data spaces. This certification serves as proof for the company that their products meet the highest standards in regard to security and functionality, and at the same time they can be certain that they have the ability to exchange data in a sovereign and trustworthy manner.
“Making it possible to securely exchange data beyond company boundaries will provide an additional impetus to digital transformation in the industry,” says Andreas Teuscher, Chief Industrial Security Officer at SICK AG. “With this initiative, we aim to achieve greater transparency and insights with a view to exploiting the potential of a networked industry,” Teuscher continues.
“SICK is a longstanding member of the IDSA. We are therefore especially pleased that the company is pursuing the goal of becoming an IDS Evaluation Facility,” says Lars Nagel, CEO of IDSA. “In doing so, SICK is underscoring its exceptional commitment to secure and sovereign data spaces in the industrial sector. It is pleasing to see that more and more organizations are taking active steps to set up secure and transparent data sharing ecosystems.”
Industry 4.0, i.e. the networking of different actors for more transparency in industrial applications, is only possible on the one hand if secure data spaces guarantee a trusted data exchange. The actors, on the other hand, must also be trustworthy. The IDSA has developed a rule book for ensuring these prerequisites are met. This includes thoroughly checking gateways and other products to make sure they are protected against manipulation and unauthorized access. As one of the founding members of the IDSA, SICK AG is now also supporting its implementation.
SICK is one of the world’s leading solutions providers for sensor-based applications in the industrial sector. Founded in 1946 by Dr.-Ing. e. h. Erwin Sick, the company with headquarters in Waldkirch im Breisgau near Freiburg ranks among the technological market leaders. With more than 50 subsidiaries and equity investments as well as numerous agencies, SICK maintains a presence around the globe. In the 2021 fiscal year, SICK had more than 11,000 employees worldwide and a group revenue of around EUR 1.9 billion. Additional information about SICK is available on the Internet at http://www.sick.com or by phone on +49 (0)7681202-4183.