BACnet Secure Connect: A differentiating feature in secure communication

BACnet Secure Connect (BACnet/SC) is a significant feature that has made Delta Controls a clear market leader in creating a secure data communication protocol for building automation and control networks. BACnet/SC is an addendum to the existing BACnet specification and utilizes the TLS protocol to authenticate devices on your building automation network and encrypt their communication.

BACnet/SC takes authentication, encryption and integrity seriously. Every device on the BACnet/SC network has its identity verified before being granted access to communicate on the network. Without being authenticated, unverified devices cannot join the network and cannot communicate with other verified devices. With authentication all of the information going through the BACnet/SC network is end-to-end encrypted, preventing bad actors from intercepting and decoding traffic. This prevents hackers from altering system performance and operation. Information sent through a BACnet/SC connection is verified as authentic, unaltered data from the original source.

Built on the core technology used by websites and web browsers to browse the internet, BACnet/SC gives the user complete security. TLS security is among the latest security protocols and elevates BACnet to a level of encryption security trusted by governments and financial institutions around the world.

BACnet/SC is a new BACnet Data Link Layer, providing another way to send BACnet traffic between two networks. Traditional BBMD routing is effective at connecting BACnet devices that reside on separate networks. However, it requires firewall exceptions to enable two-way communication, and the traffic between BBMD devices is entirely open and unencrypted. BACnet/SC replaces the need for BBMD devices, thus closing a significant security hole that has been present throughout the building automation world for many years.

While Delta Controls has developed BACnet/SC to achieve the full level of interoperability intended by BACnet, to date, we are the only system available with the BACnet/SC protocol. Interoperability with other vendors' products and previous generation Delta Controls products comes with BACnet. A network may contain a mix of BACnet/SC and non-BACnet/SC controllers, allowing a staged upgrade path towards bringing the entire system up to the latest security.

A lot of work went into developing this differentiating feature, and the team at Delta Controls is proud to be one of the first to market in creating a secure environment with a data communication protocol for building automation and control networks.

Read more about Delta Controls BACnet/SC.