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Dounreay Nuclear Facility Ensures Total File…
Energy | Customer Stories
Dounreay Nuclear Facility Ensures Total File Security with OPSWAT MetaDefender
A nuclear site in the UK is setting best practices for securing files that energy providers worldwide can follow.
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About the company: Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) is a nuclear research and development site that has been at the forefront of fast nuclear reactor development in the United Kingdom for five decades. The site, however, is now being decommissioned under the governance of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)—a governmental body responsible for overseeing the decommissioning and cleanup of nuclear sites in the UK. Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) operates under the strategic direction and oversight of the NDA in carrying out its responsibilities at the Dounreay nuclear site.
What's the story? DSRL faced significant cybersecurity challenges during the decommissioning process, which centered around an outdated file security system that required a manual scanning process, provided limited threat detection, and entailed prolonged file validation. Dounreay adopted a suite of OPSWAT MetaDefender solutions that revolutionized their file security system, to detect and remove potential threats and expedite the validation process. This is their story.
A recent report by Politico states that, “Attacks on the U.S. power grid rose in the first six months of the year, with 94 physical and computerized threats or assaults reported, according to data released by the Department of Energy. The newest figures are the latest evidence that attacks against grid infrastructure are steadily climbing.”
Such news is particularly worrisome for security managers at nuclear facilities around the world who control facilities that can have dangerous consequences for employees and those in surrounding communities if they are attacked by hackers, nation-states, or terrorist organizations. This is why security professionals worldwide are searching for the best solutions to ensure data networks at nuclear sites employ the highest levels of cybersecurity.
One facility that’s setting the standard for best practices in this area is Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) in Scotland. For five decades and through three reactor prototypes, Dounreay has been at the forefront of fast nuclear reactor development in the UK. After a half-century of service, however, the site is now being decommissioned.
DSRL is one of the operating companies that falls under the governance of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)—a governmental body responsible for overseeing the decommissioning and cleanup of nuclear sites in the United Kingdom, which has taken bold steps to fortify its networks against cyber threats.
Dounreay - Scotland
Identifying Risks and Implementing Solutions
The NDA identified the risk of files being brought into Dounreay’s air-gapped network and implemented a risk remediation plan which included the purchase of 13 Kiosks from OPSWAT (two for each operating company), as part of a pilot project.
Dounreay acquired several OPSWAT Kiosks, including K1000 Series and K3000 Series models, to provide better cross-domain communication and grant third-party access to scanned files to guard against cyberattacks and ensure that all files are safe. The Kiosks are currently linked to Dounreay's IT network and are used by third parties to scan their USBs before entering Dounreay’s network.
Addressing Challenges of Old Systems
Prior to adopting OPSWAT technology, Dounreay relied on an outdated "sheep dip" system for file security, which presented major challenges
A single antivirus engine posed a huge problem as one antivirus engine using a single algorithm is not capable of detecting different types of threats. This is why multiple antivirus engines are needed to maximize threat detection.
Employees had to manually use the sheep dip system to scan files.
Validating files took days to finalize.
Large files and multiple files were difficult to ingest.
The system was not auditable.
OPSWAT’s Technology Stack Solution
Recognizing the need for advanced file security, Dounreay adopted OPSWAT’s technology stack to augment security measures beyond the capabilities of conventional antivirus and endpoint security solutions for both their IT and OT systems. The deployed solutions, include MetaDefender Core, MetaDefender Kiosk (K1000 and K3000 Series), MetaDefender Drive, and MetaDefender Managed File Transfer.
Working together, these industry-leading solutions provide a total file security system for Dounreay, creating a roadmap that energy providers and nuclear facilities around the world can follow to ensure file security. This solution also keeps DSRL compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which are designed to protect the privacy and personal data of European citizens.
We need to ensure that there is a barrier in place that allows us to confidently pass or share or receive or give information...OPSWAT has become a really credible solution for particularly difficult technical challenge.
OPSWAT’s Solutions provide a total security system for Dounreay.
Providing A Better Outcome
Onboarding OPSWAT’s technology solutions has provided Dounreay with a number of critical benefits that their previous system could not deliver:
Files are scanned using OPSWAT Multiscanning with 16 different antivirus engines simultaneously to significantly increase threat-detection rates. As Alan Taylor, CSA at Dounreay Site explained, “I think it's important that we have multiple-engine scanning as not every engine will pick up every single piece of malware or rogue files. Having that breadth across numerous engines gives us that knowledge that it [the file] has been fully scanned properly.”
Dounreay now has two options for uploading media onto their network from third parties. “They can use the Internet to upload data directly into Dounreay’s OPSWAT environment, which is then scanned and delivered to their corporate network,” Taylor continued. “They can also physically access the network via MetaDefender Kiosks where third parties or staff members can input removable media, scan the data, and then upload it onto the corporate network.”
Taylor went on to explain that “We have another solution provided by OPSWAT called MetaDefender Drive, and we are able to run a full scan of third-party laptops before that comes onto our site and goes anywhere near any of our infrastructure.” This prevents any possibility of malware being introduced to the site by outside vendors.
By using MetaDefender Managed File Transfer in a demilitarized zone (DMZ), third parties are now able to upload large or multiple files ahead of time and have them scanned. Clean files are then transferred from an external network to an internal network, and they're available on the network when the third party arrives on site.
Having the ability to do a secure transfer through the DMZ into the networks has greatly expedited the file-validation process. Scans can now be done in a couple of hours as opposed to three to five days.
With OPSWAT deployed, Dounreay has gone from blocking removal media to a fully-integrated solution that can deal with scanning and securing removal media.
OPSWAT technology was ultimately able to provide a significant increase in detection, efficacy, and file safeguarding.
Having one antivirus engine to validate a particular file is not ideal. [With] the solution we now have in place with OPSWAT, each file is being scanned by 16 different antivirus engines.
Making Security A Priority To Prepare For Tomorrow’s Threats
Energy providers and nuclear facilities managers need to understand that there is a high probability they will suffer a cyberattack at some point in the future. The key to withstanding such attacks, however, is building your critical infrastructure’s resiliency now by getting the right technology solutions and properly trained personnel in place so that when an attack comes, you’ll have a response plan in place to deal with it effectively and efficiently.
“Cybersecurity needs to be seen as an enabler, not a blocker, and providing systems that enable the business to carry out its day-to-day functions is key for us,” Alan Taylor explained. “The new proposal by Barrier and OPSWAT to modernize that security control was exactly what we needed,” Mike Richie added.
“OPSWAT is a key piece of infrastructure for us, which allows us to carry out our day-to-day business,” Alan Taylor said. “It has taken us from a very old, antiquated way of dealing with removal media into a much more modern solution…Now we've gone from blocking removal media to a standalone system to a fully integrated solution that can deal with scanning and securing removal media.”
Cyberattacks are going to happen, but as the security experts at Dounreay have proven, the right technology can provide a solid defense to prevent such attacks from becoming catastrophic incidents.
To see how OPSWAT’s innovative solutions can keep your critical infrastructure safe, talk to an expert today.
