Cybersecurity and OT world: E80 Group protects infrastructure and connections

CHALLENGE

The world of manufacturing, as well as every other business area, is increasingly connected.

An Italian multinational company, a client of ours, leader in the construction of Laser Guided Vehicles (LGV), took steps in this direction when it chose Italtel as its technological partner to improve the safety aspects of its vehicles.

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An effective protection of the truck's LAN network, with real-time analysis of IT and OT traffic in transit
Smart factories that are increasingly safe together with Italtel
A virtuous example of Made in Italy co-innovation
New digital processes in the Industry 4.0 of the future
The synergistic collaboration has brought benefits to both parties.

A success story in the laser guided vehicle industry

SOLUTION


LGVs are machines able to move autonomously without any driver on board and capable of managing and improving the logistics operations within a production system, from the entry of raw materials to the complete management of the warehouse and shipments. They are technologically advanced machines, built with specialised software, and connected to the network in wireless mode. Equipped with highly customisable software, they can move at high speeds and with precision thanks to a 3D mapping system and are able to detect the presence of obstacles at 360 degrees.

However, these are also large industrial trucks that, when moving within logistics areas (warehouse and production), transport goods without any operator at the wheel. These vehicles move between people (workers, company employees, technicians) and, therefore, they can potentially become a hazard.

Working in close collaboration with the customer, Italtel has helped increase the safety levels of self-driving trucks that are now being placed on the market complete with embedded safety components.

The implementation of the secure OT solution designed with Italtel includes:

  • Robust and reliable wireless link for LGV control
  • Segmented truck LAN network for the optimisation of different IT and OT services
  • Cyber-securing the LGV truck potentially open to external attacks

By acting on the network infrastructure that is on board these machines, a solution designed specifically for use in an industrial context has been created (easy to integrate, resistant to dust and shocks, of limited size, weight and consumption).

The switch (rugged) on board the truck hosts an agent with Cisco Cyber Vision solution that makes it possible to analyse all the traffic passing to and from the truck and report the presence of abnormal traffic in real time. Therefore, any intrusion attempt is immediately detected and notified to a centralised dashboard, where the user has a summary, at any moment, in real time, of any attempted attack on each truck, enabling quick intervention and with targeted actions.

The dashboard provides a real-time, accurate map of all the IT and OT devices in the truck’s network. The centralised system allows users to collect data from all the agents installed on the switches distributed within the company and report the presence of any form of abnormal traffic. Its use allows for increasing refinement of behaviour assessment.

Safety is completed with secure operator profiling (Network Access Control):

  • Authentication of operators connecting to the truck network to ensure their identity
  • Malware protection for devices that connect to the truck (technician laptops)
  • Navigation control on operator devices through DNS (Domain Name System) analysis

BENEFITS

Prevent the truck becoming the vehicle to access the OT network of the client company
Ensure the safety of operators and employees moving close to the truck
Ensure real-time visibility of the entire network, enabling an Asset Inventory
Have a status of threat exposure in real time
Prevent unauthorised access to the truck network

THE ROLE OF ITALTEL

Italtel provided Advisory services in the field of OT security, an essential step in evaluating the network and in identifying the solution that best met its characteristics and needs. In particular, Italtel dealt with:

  • assessment of the current state of procedures and technology infrastructure and collection of security requirements
  • assessment of the adequacy of the security infrastructure common to IT and OT, defining the level of compliance and providing the appropriate recommendations on the main criticalities, as well as qualitative indications on the time horizon
  • executive and evolutionary design in which technological and architectural evolution processes are identified and best practices are implemented, in order to achieve the recommended security level.

A solution that is suitable for smaller trucks is currently under consideration.

CONCLUSION

“In a world where digital data have become the protagonists of the sustainability and success of businesses – declared Gabriele Grassi, Digital Innovation & Communication Director of E80 Group – it is unthinkable for us not to invest in systems that protect their security and use”.

The objective of the cybersecurity project is to improve security within the factories of E80 Group customers to protect intralogistics systems from targeted attacks and general cyber threats passing through the network. The innovative solution was studied, developed and verified by the E80 Group OT & Cybersecurity team together with Italtel engineers. E80 Group has adopted the Cisco Cyber ​​Vision suite, applying and configuring the solution on its autonomous vehicles.

“The OT Security project created with E80 Group is an excellent example of co-creation between technical teams with different skills who were able to give substance to innovation quickly and effectively – comments Giovanni Salerno, Head of Private & Public Sector Business Unit of Italtel -. But above all it represents an important innovation for the entire industrial chain. Today, with digital transformation and the revolution brought about by autonomous systems, governed by AI, companies are seeing for the first time the advantages deriving from the use of open ICT networks and systems, but, at the same time, they are more easily exposed to threats and the typical risks of the world of IP networks. With this project, E80 Group was a pioneer in the adoption of the most recent Operational Security systems and Italtel is proud to have contributed to this important step for the sector.”

The technicians of Italtel’s CyberSec competence center have developed ad-hoc solutions to speed up the adoption of the Cisco appliance in the E80 Group workflow and adapt it to the peculiar characteristics of the group’s automatic and integrated systems. In addition to accelerating the process, Italtel designed and built a software component that allowed massive automated and remote configurations to be carried out, eliminating manual work, accelerating deployment and making the process safe and monitorable in a real and complex industrial environment such as that of E80 Group customers.

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