When a biomedical company is tapped by the NIH to produce in-demand COVID tests in 2020, Enetics steps in to boost the firm’s cybersecurity infrastructure.
Client
The client is a biomedical company dedicated to the development of high quality, in-vitro diagnostic and point-of-care testing solutions that make positive contributions to public health and healthcare worldwide. The company offers a line of FDA and CDC approved products.
Opportunity
In September 2020, the company planned to produce and market as many as 3 million COVID-19 rapid antigen diagnostic tests, which had been developed in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As a condition of its participation in the NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADxSM) initiative, the firm needed to prove that it could protect sensitive and confidential data as part of proper stewardship of federally funded research.
Some of these requirements included:
- Firewall filtering
- Managed endpoint security
- Intrusion detection/prevention
- Data loss prevention
- Multifactor authentication
At the suggestion of an NIH contract liaison, the biomedical company contacted Enetics to review its network management and security infrastructure and provide support to meet the NIH requirements.
Solutions
Prior to working with Enetics, the biomedical company did not have a robust cybersecurity plan. As a manufacturing business, most of the company’s records had previously been stored on paper within the facility itself. As the company began keeping more of its records in digital form, and especially once the NIH contract for the new COVID tests came through, cybersecurity became a top priority.
Enetics has years of experience supporting clients in business sectors that require great attention to network and information security. It works closely with clients to evaluate their needs and helps them make informed decisions about the solutions that will best serve their goals.
- The first thing Enetics did when it began working with the biomedical company was review the 100+ page regulatory documents provided by the NIH on its network security requirements.
- After that, Enetics interviewed stakeholders at the company to ensure that its recommendations would not only meet the NIH requirements but also the needs and expectations of the company.
- Finally, Enetics visited the company’s facilities and created a detailed work plan to implement the necessary changes.
Results
- Enetics created a robust IT management and security system, with cloud-based backup servers, for the company’s 26,000 square foot facility, and over 13 individual laboratories.
- In addition to implementing all the requirements stipulated by the NIH, Enetics added an extra data security measure: blocking external mass storage. This is something Enetics encourages most of its clients with highly sensitive data to include, as it prevents people from using USB flash drives to either remove large amounts of data from the systems or transfer potentially harmful files onto the servers, whether accidentally or maliciously.
- Finally, Enetics laid the groundwork for the company’s employees to learn and implement cyber-safe behaviors, including staying vigilant and maintaining trusted protocols.
- To this day, Enetics continues to support the company’s network security and data infrastructure and provides timely updates to keep its systems running smoothly.
