FANUC Retrofitting CNC Systems Against Cyberattacks

FANUC America, a supplier of CNCs, robotics and machine tools, is offering an upgrade solution for legacy CNC machines running on operating systems older than Windows 10. The Panel i Replacement Program retrofits FANUC CNCs with a powerful industrial PC available with touch or non-touch LCD display, solid-state drives and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, the company says.

FANUC CNCs running on obsolete operating systems (such as Windows 7, XP or older) are no longer supported by Microsoft and, therefore, not receiving critical updates to protect against cyberattacks. If machines connect to an online network, this can leave sensitive manufacturing equipment open to major cybersecurity breaches. Retrofitting industrial PCs on these machines enables businesses to safely and securely connect their CNCs to their network and take advantage of Industrial Internet of Things data.

To stay competitive, manufacturers need real-time operational information from CNC machines to make data-driven decisions, the company says. FANUC understands there is a lot of legacy CNC equipment still in use today. To fill this critical cybersecurity need, the replacement program enables FANUC CNC users to unlock IIoT advantages by connecting their machines to the business network in a safe and secure way.

Connecting CNC equipment enables operations to safety and securely run machines remotely as well as collect important production data critical for effective business decisions. In addition to offering cybersecurity protection, the FANUC Panel i Replacement Program provides two screen size options, a faster CPU, more memory and larger storage.