A cyber physical system is understood to be a network of informational software components with mechanical and electronic components connected to the Internet.
It is customary in industrial plants for the individual units that are used to be connected to a control station, from which the processes taking place can be controlled. Any error messages of the units being monitored also converge in the control station. With smaller systems or machines not connected to a control station, any error signals are displayed on the machines themselves or on a respective control box. In many cases there is also the option of forwarding these errors to authorized persons over the Internet. However, an Internet connection always also entails the risk of hacker attacks or undesired manipulations. Software security systems such as firewalls or a high level of encryption frequently do not offer adequate security today.
US 2010/0299720 A1 discloses a method and a device for connecting and disconnecting a computer to/from the Internet, in which a switch provided in the Internet connection cable is actuated via an activation mechanism. In addition, measures to maintain IT security by means of authentication and security tokens are used in DE 10 2013 105 781 A1.
EP 1 742 135 A1 describes a safety system for a data processing system with a data connection for connecting an internal data processing system to an external data network and an inspection device for inspecting the data exchanged over the data link. Unauthorized access from an external data network to the internal data processing system as well as from the internal data processing system to the external data network can be suppressed by using a blocking device.