Is a FactoryPMI Client connection secure?

I have a general security question. Is it possible to hack into a FactoryPMI server by observing the content of a FactoryPMI client session using an Ethernet sniffer? I have a customer who wants to understand how secure the client data is. The connection between client and server will be over a public domain.

Thanks in advance.

That is a good question. Most of our installations go into private networks where this isn’t a big problem. While sensitive data like authentication credentials are encrypted, the actual data stream is not. Because of this, we recommend that you use a secure connection like a VPN tunnel if the connection is going over a public link.

Soon our FactoryPMI Gateway will offer SSL communication as an option, which will more tightly secure our client-gateway communication.

Thanks for your interest,