Cold chain security: why independent temperature monitoring is increasingly important
An IT failure or incident can compromise the regulation of a refrigeration system. A separate measurement system can help identify thermal consequences and document their evolution.
When the control system is not reliable
Industrial refrigeration increasingly uses connected controllers, SCADA supervisors and remote control platforms. These technologies improve plant management, but require adequate IT security and operational continuity measures.
If the controller is configured incorrectly, fails, or is tampered with, the actual cell temperature may differ from the expected temperature. If supervision is also unavailable or unreliable, operators may have difficulty recognizing the problem promptly.
Regulation and monitoring are two different functions
The regulation system controls the system components to maintain the set point. An independent monitoring system, however, measures environmental conditions with dedicated sensors. When the two functions are appropriately separated, the second can provide additional feedback on the actual temperature.
The separation must not be just logical: to reduce the risk of common failure, power, gateway, network, credentials, cloud and notification channels must be evaluated.
How it works NovaCold
NovaCold is the Novabase solution for environmental monitoring, based on wireless probes BTW-AMB, gateway and cloud platform. It can be installed next to the existing regulation system, without necessarily modifying it.
The probes detect the air temperature in the monitored points. The system allows you to consult the values remotely and the measurement history. By setting thresholds consistent with the process, it is possible to generate automatic alerts via email and WhatsApp when values go outside the expected range.
An operational example
In a cell with an expected operating temperature of +4 °C, a controller fault causes an increase in temperature. An independent sensor detects the change and, when the configured threshold is exceeded, the system can send a signal. The historian then helps to reconstruct the timing and progress of the event.
The report does not demonstrate that a cyber attack has occurred: the anomaly itself could depend on a fault, the opening of a door or other causes. It is the responsibility of the technicians and plant managers to identify the source of the problem.
A complementary measure to cybersecurity
Temperature monitoring does not replace network segmentation, access control, updates, backups, and incident response procedures. However, it can add a level of physical observation useful for operational continuity and the protection of stored products.
The timeliness of the detection depends on the measurement frequency, the position of the probes, the set thresholds, the availability of communications and the intervention procedures.
Find out NovaCold
Do you want to add an additional temperature monitoring system to your cold rooms? Find out NovaCold up the site dedicated to NovaCold or contact info@novabase.it to evaluate an installation suitable for your system.