The IVI Foundation (IVI) and the LXI Consortium (LXI) announce the completion of the initial security standards that address securing instrument LAN communications and instrument LAN access in an Automated Test System (ATS). 

With the increase in cybersecurity threats, exploits involving network connections to devices are rising. The sophistication of today’s bad actors and the risk of insider threats have driven the industry to add new layers of protection against cybersecurity threats.

To address these cybersecurity threats, IVI and LXI collaborated on developing Test & Measurement industry security standards that significantly improve security for instrument communication in multi-vendor ATS solutions.

The IVI Foundation (responsible for IVI and VISA specifications) has recently published new and updated specifications that complement the LXI Version 1.6 specifications for securing T&M instrument communication via LAN.  The IVI Foundation reviewed each IVI and VISA specification and made minor updates to four VISA specifications, a major update to the IVI HiSLIP specification, and added one new IVI specification for SASL mechanisms.

“The close collaboration between the IVI Foundation and the LXI Consortium enabled broad coverage and consistency for the security enhancements that were made across the full set of IVI/VISA/LXI standards that apply to securing T&M instrument communication via LAN,” said Larry Ostheimer, president of the IVI Foundation.

The new LXI Version 1.6 standard specifications have been updated to support secure LAN communication and secure instrument LAN access. A new LXI Security Extended Function specification establishes requirements for LXI instruments that provide secure LAN connections for both command-and-control and the instrument’s web interface. A new LXI API Extended Function specification defines a REST API to configure and query the settings on an instrument that are important for the instrument to work in a secure environment. Various other minor updates were made to the existing LXI Standard specifications to address security changes and align with current network practices. 

“Security technology is very complex and continually evolving. The IVI and LXI security standards are aligned with existing cybersecurity industry standards and best practices, thus enabling our member companies to create secure products that can be used within our customers’ secure environments,”  said Steve Schink, president of the LXI Consortium.