With an estimated annual cybercrime cost of $10.5 trillion globally in 2025, building a robust cybersecurity structure is a non-negotiable priority for critical infrastructure organizations. The evolving sophistication of cyberattacks makes upgrading cybersecurity infrastructure crucial to remaining ahead of emerging threats.
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Upgrade Initiative
Our client, one of Europe's largest energy companies, faces growing cybersecurity challenges ranging from nation-state actors targeting critical infrastructure to ransomware groups seeking financial gain. Prior to implementing OPSWAT solutions, the company’s cybersecurity program was dated and lacked consistency.
With the company’s direction of shifting toward clean energy sources, the energy provider needed to modernize its cybersecurity procedures and infrastructure to protect their growing number of wind farms and solar plants. Such facilities often run on a complex mix of OT (Operational Technology) and IT (Information Technology) systems. By understanding the evolving nature of modern cyberthreats, the energy provider, in cooperation with three other major industrial companies in the region, launched an initiative to upgrade their cybersecurity infrastructure.
Addressing Multi-Layered Cybersecurity Concerns
With upgraded cybersecurity protocols, new measures were implemented, including segmenting networks, enforcing strict authentication, and continuously monitoring suspicious activities. Also, with the portable and removable media threats being a primary concern, an alternative to the implemented manual scanning process was crucial.
The company showed interest in deploying MetaDefender Kiosk™ at the entry of most of the power plants’ air-gapped zones to scan all removable media. Shortly after a conversation with one of OPSWAT’s experts, they decided to explore more of OPSWAT’s integrated solutions to cover more of the company’s cybersecurity gaps.
In addition to MetaDefender Kiosk, the company was also evaluating data diode solutions to physically separate the IT and OT networks. Data diodes enforce one-way data flow to prevent cyberthreats from crossing between IT and OT networks.
Finding a secure, efficient way to scan removable media at our air-gapped facilities was a top priority. After speaking with OPSWAT, we quickly realized their solutions—like MetaDefender Kiosk and data diodes—could seamlessly address not just that challenge, but also strengthen our overall IT/OT security posture.
Director of Operational Technology Security
Seamless Integration with Multiple Layers of Defense
To address the company’s concerns and support the newly implemented measures, multiple OPSWAT solutions were adopted:
MetaDefender Kiosk
Initially deployed in 8 facilities as scanning stations at the entrance of power plants, adding a security layer at the point of entry. With the capability to apply different scanning policies for different user groups, and the built-in MetaScan™ Multiscanning and Deep CDR™ technologies, they went into full operation within 15 days from delivery. Shortly after deployment, plans were made to deploy more kiosks.
MetaDefender Optical Diode
A reliable hardware-enforced, one-way data transfer from isolated networks to internet-connected devices, enabling secure and concurrent transfer of multiple data types.
MetaDefender Managed File Transfer
This MFT file security solution integrates with MetaDefender Kiosk and MetaDefender Optical Diode to provide safe, clean data transfers. These integrations enabled one-way secure transfers of clean data from removable media to our client’s OT networks over a non-network connection, preventing targeted cyberattacks from exploiting vulnerabilities.
My OPSWAT Central Management
With the number of solutions deployed over multiple sites, the energy provider needed an efficient way to manage and monitor all of them. My OPSWAT Central Management, with its single-pane-of-glass dashboard, enabled quick response and total control over all peripheral and removable media protection devices owned by our client.
Managing Kiosks across multiple locations was a major challenge. Thanks to the centralized visibility, seamless updates, and real-time threat monitoring in My OPSWAT Central Management, we now have complete centralized control.
Chief Cybersecurity Officer
Centralized Management and Increased Threat Detection
Within the first three months of deploying OPSWAT solutions, the initial internal cybersecurity reports showed noticeable increases in malware detection rates. MetaDefender Kiosk, powered by MetaDefender Core™ with MetaScan™ Multiscanning technology, helped our client achieve a 99.2% detection rate with +30 scanning engines, compared to a 45% average detection rate for single-engine solutions.
The seamless deployment of MetaDefender Managed File Transfer and the integration with both MetaDefender Kiosk and MetaDefender Optical Diode enabled secure transfers of clean files to air-gapped zones. This integration ensured safe unidirectional file transfers with end-to-end encryption to help detect data tampering and protect against zero-day exploits.
The built-in integration with My OPSWAT Central Management has proven to be more than just a utility. Without the need for external tools or third-party integrations, the reports from the connected OPSWAT products and the detailed device usage were accessible from a single pane of glass, minimizing the onboarding efforts and centralizing report management.
Staying Ahead of Modern Cyberthreats
After the success of the security infrastructure upgrade initiative, a plan to enhance employee endpoint protection has been created. It involves installing MetaDefender Endpoint™ on all employee computers in the IT environment to block removable media threats and ensure regulatory compliance.
In addition, further considerations are being made to enhance the third-party vendor laptop scanning process. MetaDefender Drive™ will be deployed to perform bare-metal scans on all vendor laptops before enabling them to enter air-gapped zones or connect to the organization’s network.
OPSWAT’s integrated solutions not only protect sensitive IT and OT assets from cyberattacks but also ensure operational continuity and regulatory compliance. To learn more about OPSWAT solutions and how they can secure your critical infrastructure networks, get in touch with an expert today.
