Define the safe response to a cyber event.
AX-Interlock connects aXite cyber detection to a pre-designed, process-specific safe state for critical industrial machines. Operators and integration partners define the response, authorisation and recovery conditions for each installation.
Lab-tested integration is not the same as operational validation or certification.
A cyber event needs a response that respects the process.
New or substantially modified installations, or an audit, can expose a gap between cyber controls and safe operation. Abrupt power-off or network shutdown is not always the safest process response, and restarting without defined conditions can create another risk.
This matters to operators of high-grade steel facilities for defence and aviation, pipelines, terminals and other highly critical chains where the response must be designed with integrators, OEMs and safety partners.
Why Interlock
Separate monitoring and safety controls can leave the response between disciplines. AX-Interlock gives the operator and delivery partners one installation-specific intervention path to design, authorise and validate.
Acybereventbecomesacontrolledstate.
The intervention runs through a dedicated safety-controlled switching path. The safe state and recovery conditions are defined with the operator for the connected installation.
Three outcomes.
One process-specific intervention layer.
Connect cyber detection, controlled intervention and recorded recovery.
- 01
Process-specific intervention
A safe response designed for the connected process, rather than a generic shutdown. The response follows the machine’s defined safe state, with interfaces, timeouts and fault behaviour agreed for that installation.
- 02
Controlled decisions
An authorised path from a cyber signal to intervention. Configured rules and agreed scenarios define which responses can run automatically and which need a decision from an authorised operator.
- 03
Recorded intervention and recovery
A recorded event and a locally controlled route to restart and recovery. The event, the decision and the intervention are kept for operator review, and restart follows the recovery conditions agreed for the installation.
The intervention layer
A safe stop is not always an immediate stop.
In industrial environments, abruptly shutting down a machine can introduce additional risks. Just as in functional safety, a controlled stopping sequence may be necessary to bring equipment into a defined safe state, protecting people, machinery and the process.
Detect, authorise, intervene, recover.
The operator and responsible engineering and safety partners define the safe state, interfaces, fault behaviour and recovery conditions for each installation.
- 01
Detect
aXite security software identifies a validated cyber signal and starts the configured intervention path. It is the required primary cyber trigger for AX-Interlock; third-party detectors do not replace it.
- 02
Assess & authorise
Configured rules determine the response. Agreed scenarios define when intervention can run automatically and when human authorisation is required.
- 03
Intervene
The selected safety component translates the authorised response into physical intervention toward the machine’s predetermined safe state. Interfaces, timeouts and fault responses are defined and validated for that installation.
- 04
Record & recover
Record the event, decision and intervention for operator review. Local operators control manual restart under the agreed recovery conditions.
Hardware routes and responsibilities.
On aXite hardware
aXite hardware/runtime carries the security software and connects it to the selected safety component. The delivery is scoped to the machine, its interfaces and the agreed intervention scenarios. Operators and delivery partners establish how the installation is accepted, maintained and restarted.
On agreed partner hardware
An intended alternative places the aXite software on hardware agreed with an integrator or OEM. That requires explicit interface and responsibility agreements; it is not a ready kit for arbitrary hardware. aXite security software remains required in both routes. Partner delivery agreements are still to be established.
Regulatory and standards framework
EU Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC (EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 from 20 January 2027) · IEC 62061 / ISO 13849-1 · IEC 62443 · EN 50742 — Protection against corruption.
Applicable requirements, safety functions and responsibilities are determined for each installation with the operator and responsible engineering and safety partners. Conformity and any claimed safety integrity level (SIL/PL) must be demonstrated through appropriate risk assessment, validation and applicable conformity assessment procedures. No system-level safety certification or rating is implied.
AX-Box Gatekeeper hardware is not required.
Define your machine's response.
Bring the installation, its cyber signal and the safe-state question. We can establish the right engineering conversation with your delivery partners.