In a dynamic and highly regulated industrial environment, Enetics provides a cost-effective approach to system reliability and catastrophic backup support.
Client
The client is an industrial facility with critical infrastructure needs, operating in a highly regulated environment.
Opportunity
In 2022, Enetics began partnering with the facility to provide essential expertise to the highly regulated plant by designing, implementing, and maintaining a secure and efficient network infrastructure to meet both operational needs and regulatory compliance.
As is typical with industrial facilities, its network management needs were segmented into two systems:
- Operating Technology (OT) – a networked system running all of the facility’s processes and production
- Information Technology (IT) – the business side of the facility, including servers, networked workstations, printers, operating systems, accounting software, etc.
The client was focused on maintaining system reliability and efficiency, while staying within budget. The most important concerns, however, were cybersecurity and being able to recover quickly from any catastrophic events.
Solutions
Enetics worked in partnership with the facility management team to assess threats to the operation’s entire infrastructure, including both OT and IT. As part of this, Enetics set up a real-time monitoring system to detect and address issues before they impact operations. This allows the company to intervene immediately in the case of network performance degradation, potential security threats or compliance breaches.
The facility’s process operating system now has an “air gap.” That means the system is self-contained and not connected to the internet in order to minimize vulnerability.
Enetics also provided and configured the hardware for a major update of the entire control system for the facility. This included modernizing access to the controls to allow employees to have access to different parts of the control system depending on their security clearance. These safety measures include isolating critical systems from external networks to prevent unauthorized access or accidental interference with operations.
Finally, Enetics supported the facility through a regulatory audit, ensuring it meets or exceeds all local and federal requirements.
Results
Now that the controls upgrade has been completed, the facility management team has returned to maintenance mode on both the business and operations side. As the facility’s trusted IT security partner, Enetics continues to ensure that the site runs efficiently and securely, while meeting all regulatory standards, minimizing downtime, and preventing costly compliance violations.
