Next-Level Security for Offline and Air-Gapped Environments

MetaDefender Sandbox and Kiosk for Critical Infrastructure Protection

Jul 2, 2025 by OPSWAT

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In critical infrastructure, trust must be earned—especially when files are being transferred into OT (operational technology) networks via USBs, CDs, or peripheral and removable media. That’s why MetaDefender Kiosk, combined with MetaDefender Sandbox, is a vital line of defense for protecting industrial control systems from sophisticated threats.

Going Beyond Multiscanning and File Sanitization

MetaDefender Kiosk is already known for its ruggedized hardware and ability to scan and sanitize files using 30+ AV engines and Deep CDRTM, but advanced threats don’t always show their hand during static analysis. That’s where MetaDefender Sandbox comes in.

Sandbox provides air-gapped environments with dynamic behavioral analysis—even offline—by:

Triggering delayed or user-dependent malware behaviors through simulation
Accelerating time to expose long-sleep payloads
Preventing sandbox-aware malware from detecting it’s being watched

This is especially critical for environments like energy grids, water treatment plants, and manufacturing floors, where malware that triggers only post-deployment can cause catastrophic disruption.

Why It Works in Air-Gapped Networks

MetaDefender Sandbox was engineered to function in isolated environments and it:

Does not require a persistent cloud connection to operate
Supports secure synchronization of threat intelligence via MetaDefender Managed File Transfer
Provides detailed behavioral reports and IOCs for downstream integration into SIEMs and SOC workflows

This makes it ideal for use cases where files are scanned at a secure staging point (such as a plant DMZ) before being transferred via trusted media into the OT core.

Proven Against Evasive Malware

Three blue circular infographics show Security for Offline and Air-Gapped Environments malware detection rates

According to AMTSO-validated testing:

Sandbox detected 100% of user-interaction evasions (e.g., malware waiting for human scroll or clicks)
Sandbox bypassed 100% of virtual machine detection and anti-debugging logic
Sandbox mapped 90% of malware behavior to MITRE ATT&CK, enabling threat hunting even after detection

This performance is essential in OT environments, where breaches are often discovered too late and regulatory compliance (such as NIST CSF, IEC 62443, or TSA SD02C) demands proactive threat detection.