Securing a Manufacturing Supply Chain
Vulnerabilities fixed
47
THE CHALLENGE
A precision manufacturing firm with 300 employees and $120M in annual revenue discovered their operational technology (OT) network was directly connected to the corporate IT network with no segmentation whatsoever. CNC machines, PLCs, and SCADA systems were accessible from any workstation on the corporate network. A competitor in their industry had just been hit by a devastating cyberattack that caused $40M in losses and three weeks of production downtime. Their largest customer — a defense contractor — had issued an ultimatum: demonstrate compliance with NIST 800-171 within six months or lose the contract worth $18M annually.
OUR SOLUTION
Threat Contain conducted a comprehensive risk assessment spanning both IT and OT environments, deploying passive network monitoring on the OT side to avoid any production disruption. We redesigned the entire network architecture with proper IT/OT segmentation using industrial DMZ design patterns, deployed next-gen endpoint protection across all workstations and servers, implemented network access control, and established a managed detection service with OT-aware detection rules. Our team created OT-specific incident response playbooks and trained their plant managers on security awareness specific to manufacturing environments.
OT/IT Network Assessment
Conducted passive network analysis to map all IT and OT assets without disrupting manufacturing operations. Discovered 47 critical vulnerabilities including exposed PLCs, unpatched SCADA systems, and flat network architecture with no segmentation.
Network Architecture Redesign
Designed and implemented Purdue Model-based network segmentation with proper DMZ between IT and OT zones. Deployed industrial firewalls and unidirectional security gateways to ensure OT systems remained air-gapped from corporate threats.
Endpoint & Vulnerability Remediation
Deployed lightweight endpoint protection across all workstations and servers. Patched critical vulnerabilities on a risk-prioritized schedule that aligned with production maintenance windows — zero unplanned downtime.
Managed Detection & Response
Implemented 24/7 monitoring across all endpoints and network segments. Custom detection rules were written for OT-specific threat indicators. Monthly vulnerability scans and quarterly reporting to leadership.
THE RESULTS
- Complete IT/OT network segmentation implemented with zero production downtime
- 47 critical vulnerabilities identified and remediated across IT and OT environments
- 24/7 monitoring deployed across all endpoints with OT-specific threat detection
- NIST 800-171 compliance achieved, preserving the $18M defense contract
KEY METRICS
47
Vulnerabilities fixed
0 hours
Production downtime
$18M/yr
Contract preserved
340%
Risk score improvement
100%
Detection coverage
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
“We knew our OT network was exposed, but every security firm we talked to wanted to shut down production for weeks. Threat Contain segmented our networks and deployed monitoring without a single minute of downtime. Our customers finally trust our security posture.”
Robert Chen
VP of Operations, Sterling Manufacturing
MORE SUCCESS STORIES
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