Lücken in Media gefährden den Geschäftsbetrieb
Data is critical to this organization’s operations. Data and system files are required throughout the network tiers and high-risk zones to support operational, security, and other critical tasks, and in many cases must move across air-gapped environments. Isolation is an essential safety control in nuclear environments, helping maintain operational integrity while protecting people, assets, and the environment.
In our estate, removable media and transient devices are an unavoidable conduit between secure and less-trusted domains in order to perform updates and diagnostics.
Head of OT Cyber Security and Cyber Assurance
To meet security protocols and protect the environment, the organization previously relied on multiple manual checks and traditional procedures involving staff oversight and documentation.
Several key concerns needed to be addressed:
Datei-Sicherheit
Malicious files can covertly infiltrate nuclear facilities and undermine secure operations. Supply-chain risks, including tampered software, altered firmware, and corrupted third-party data, can further increase exposure to cyber infiltration and potential sabotage.
Removable Media Proble
USB drives, SD cards, and similar devices can introduce malware, enable unauthorized data extraction, and bypass existing network security safeguards. They also create auditability challenges and pose risks to the integrity of content stored on removable media.
Risiken durch vorübergehende Geräte
Laptops, maintenance devices, and contractor systems can introduce threats, unverified configurations, or hidden access paths when connected to secure networks.
Atomaufsicht
Compliance with strict regulatory requirements is a core driver for ensuring robust operational and cybersecurity safeguards around file security and removable media protection. In the nuclear sector, this extends beyond regulatory compliance. Organizations have a responsibility to maintain the highest levels of security, as even minor disruptions or deviations can have significant safety, environmental, and national-security consequences.
Operative Prozesse
Previously, the organization’s facilities operated with varying procedures, vendors, and legacy practices. Multiple manual checks made it difficult to scale processes while maintaining quality and compliance. Staff often needed to physically scan and transport media across large facilities several times, creating delays, operational fatigue, and an increased risk of human error. Teams urgently needed a standardized approach that could be applied consistently across all sites.
Manual release controls for files entering operational environments helped prevent outbreaks but added additional burden and increased the risk of mistakes in critical security and safety processes.
Strengthening Global Controls
We required greater control, security, and visibility into files as they cross all the boundaries. We needed to modernize and simplify our procedures and orchestrate many of the processes that are currently in place.
Head of OT Cyber Security and Cyber Assurance
Leadership has come to the conclusion that modernization, simplification, and better orchestration of their existing procedures were inevitable. To address these challenges, the organization selected OPSWAT because its integrated platform provided a comprehensive solution capable of securing files, removable media, and transient devices across their operational environments.
By deploying the integrated OPSWAT platform across all global facilities, the organization ensured that every file entering the nuclear environment was subject to zero-trust inspection workflows. Regardless of source or entry point: removable media, transient devices, onsite staff, or external third parties, all files were then processed through multi-layered defense controls to detect known and unknown threats targeting their environment.
This was achieved by implementing MetaDefender Kiosk™ (as integrated sheep dips) and MetaDefender Drive™ at established checkpoints for scanning removable media and transient devices before they entered the environment.
Each solution leverages a powerful set of technologies to keep malicious content out of the environment, including:
- Multiscanning mit mehreren Anti-Malware-Engines
- Full archive inspection and extraction
- Deep CDR™ Technology
- Kontrollen des Herkunftslandes
- File vulnerability scanning
- Intelligent reputation services
This multi-layered approach enforced consistent file security standards at the required performance level while maintaining operational efficiency, even when multiple engines were applied during scanning.
Jeder hat schon genug zu tun, ohne eine halbe Stunde darauf warten zu müssen, dass sein USB gescannt wird. Aber OPSWAT macht das OPSWAT , selbst mit mehreren Engines sorgt das leistungsstarke Kit im Hintergrund für einen effizienten Ablauf.
Head of OT Cyber Security and Cyber Assurance
MetaDefender Kiosk delivered quick, reliable verification of all removable media, closing a significant security gap around USB devices. The MetaDefender Drive deployment served as a supply chain assurance tool used to scan vendor laptops before they were granted access.
With the MetaDefender Validation Endpoint, we’ve eliminated trust-based assumptions by ensuring only approved encrypted USBs and clean, scanned, unaltered files were allowed on critical endpoints.
Head of OT Cyber Security and Cyber Assurance
The OPSWAT solutions delivered orchestrated and flexible scanning through both free-standing and mobile kiosk formats, fitting seamlessly into business and security workflows.
Key Capabilities:
- Zentralisierte Verwaltung für konsistente Bereitstellung und Kontrolle
- Flexible Kioskformate, die sich an betriebliche Anforderungen anpassen
- Optimierte Audits und Transparenz in allen Umgebungen
- Einfache Implementierung mit minimalem Schulungsaufwand
- Verkürzte Einarbeitungszeit für neue Benutzer und Teams
Wenn du ein paar Minuten für einen Scan investierst, kannst du das Risiko schwerwiegender Systemprobleme deutlich reduzieren. Die kurze Scan-Zeit ist ein kleiner Aufwand im Vergleich zu den Wochen, die du für die Wiederherstellung nach einem größeren Ausfall aufwenden müsstest.
Head of OT Cyber Security and Cyber Assurance
The deployment has been strongly endorsed across the organization, from frontline teams to senior leadership.
Ausbau der strategischen Partnerschaft
The organization expanded its investment with OPSWAT to include the MetaDefender Managed File Transfer™ solution to drive efficiency and reduce operational risks in users’ daily tasks.
Files will be ingested from USB devices, internal file transfers, and third-party uploads into MFT, where they will be continuously scanned for threats and any suspicious files will be detonated within the solution’s inline sandbox capability.
Additional technical controls such as release management and supervisor approval will ensure outbreak prevention before file access is granted or securely transferred across domains.
The solution will function as a secure global file exchange platform for both internal teams and external partners, enabling security to support the business while enhancing productivity.
Unsere Partnerschaft mit OPSWAT die Art und Weise verändert, wie wir Dateien in unseren weltweiten Nuklearbetrieben sichern und verwalten, und uns die Kontrolle, Transparenz und Konsistenz verschafft, die wir benötigen. Wir sind gespannt, wohin uns diese Beziehung führen wird und wie sie unsere Zusammenarbeit weiter stärken wird.
Head of OT Cyber Security and Cyber Assurance
Driven by a mission to protect the world’s critical infrastructure, OPSWAT’s integrated solutions protect sensitive IT and OT environments from cyberattacks, ensure operational continuity, and support regulatory compliance. To learn more about these solutions and how they can secure critical infrastructure networks, get in touch with an expert today.
