ProjectX: Helicopter Manufacturer Lands a Winning Cybersecurity Solution

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Helicopter Manufacturer Lands a Winning Cybersecurity Solution

IT/OT professionals must get acquainted with the physical systems they protect from virtual threats, says two IT/OT architects at an industry-leading manufacturer of commercial and military helicopters.

GrayMatter and the manufacturer collaborated on a solution to protect its manufacturing plant devices from malware that exploits legacy operating systems prevalent on custom-built, industrial equipment.

Upgrading the operating system of a single machine — one that cuts aircraft skins, for example — would cost an estimated $500,000. Upgrading one machine wouldn’t protect its neighbors from malware. The manufacturer has hundreds of devices spread over a half-dozen facilities.

“The $500,000 is just the direct cost. It doesn’t include the indirect cost of that machine being down for a matter of weeks,” an IT/OT architect at the company said.

The Problem

Viruses repeatedly infected the company’s manufacturing plant devices. Reinfections occurred almost as quickly as they were removed.

Many of its large, custom-built manufacturing devices rely on legacy operating systems that are expensive or difficult to patch with software updates. IT/OT professionals at the company wanted an effective, low-impact solution.

“We want IT to be collaborative and not be intrusive,” an IT/OT architect said. “We want to be able to basically hook it up and everything stays the same.”

The Solution

GrayMatter worked with the manufacturer to deploy a micro-segmentation solution gradually.

“We tested it for one particular area to isolate that network segment and it worked well,” said a GrayMatter industrial data advisor.

In the test run, one of the company’s architects said they started with a group of machines infected with a virus. They removed the virus and placed the machines into a micro-segmented network.

The solution prevented them, for the first time, from being infected again.

It was the key to get buy-in from company leaders.

“We needed a proof of concept that they cared about,” an IT/OT architect said. “That’s what we were able to find.”

Big Wins

Network micro-segmentation protects legacy devices

Proof of concept halted infection recurrence

Improved network connectivity speed 400%

Avoided costly equipment replacement or upgrades

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