Vacon: Stuxnet Does Not Infect its AC Drives
There has been public discussion about the Stuxnet computer malware and its impact on the operation of Vacon AC drives. This is why Vacon wants to clarify the situation.
Vacon has been investigating the matter and, according to its present knowledge, Stuxnet is not capable of infecting Vacon AC drives in any way. Nor does Vacon know of any instances where Stuxnet would have created problems in the operations of the company's customers. In this respect the processes of Vacon's customers are not at risk.
According to experts, Stuxnet seems to be capable of infecting one manufacturer's certain programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which, in turn, can be used to control the operation of Vacon AC drives. An infected PLC may operate defectively and thus control the operation of AC drives in an unwanted manner. Therefore, customers who suspect that their processes might be infected by the Stuxnet malware should contact their PLC provider.
The malware is activated in the infected PLC when very specific conditions are all true at the same time, including an extremely high output frequency. Therefore, any possible effects would concern extremely limited and targeted AC drives application areas. Vacon's experts have not found in their own investigations a single potential case where all the conditions of the malware would be fulfilled.
In addition, because there has been incorrect or inaccurate information in some Internet-based sources regarding Vacon's sales of AC drives to Iran, Vacon wants to emphasize the fact that Vacon has not sold AC drives to Iran against the embargo.
Vacon takes this matter seriously and continues to study the potential impact of Stuxnet. Vacon will also keep its customers, partners, and all other relevant stakeholders informed whenever new important information arises.
Vacon says its operations are driven by a passion to develop, manufacture, and sell the best AC drives in the world - and nothing else. AC drives are used to control electric motors and in renewable energy generation. Vacon has R&D and production units in Finland, the USA, China and Italy, and sales offices in 27 countries. In 2009 Vacon had revenues of EUR 272 million and globally employed 1,200 people.