CheckPoint Software > Case Studies > Furniture Manufacturer Secures its ICS Network with Check Point Rugged Appliances and Cyber Security Management

Furniture Manufacturer Secures its ICS Network with Check Point Rugged Appliances and Cyber Security Management

Technology Category

Drones - Flight & Control Systems
Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Applicable Industries

Electronics
Glass

Applicable Functions

Facility Management

Use Cases

Cybersecurity
Tamper Detection

Services

Cybersecurity Services

About The Customer

The customer is the largest furniture manufacturer in the U.S. The company operates a primary manufacturing facility that spans 4 million square feet, employs 2,000 workers, and sources raw materials globally. The company markets over 40 different product lines, relying on hundreds of unique industrial machines and control systems to produce them. These systems and processes must be continuously monitored to ensure optimal manufacturing quality and uptime. The company's manufacturing facilities are spread across multiple work centers around the world.

The Challenge

The largest furniture manufacturer in the U.S. faced a significant challenge in securing its Industrial Control Systems (ICS) against cyber threats. The company operates 50 industrial manufacturing work centers and thousands of industrial manufacturing and control systems in harsh environments. These systems, including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), are crucial for maintaining optimal manufacturing quality and uptime. However, the factory floor conditions, such as sawdust, temperature swings, vibration, and electromagnetic interference, make it hostile to traditional electronics and security measures. Additionally, space and power are primarily dedicated to manufacturing systems, making it difficult to accommodate additional devices for security. Many of these systems were not designed with cybersecurity in mind, making patching or upgrading risky or even impossible.

The Solution

To address these challenges, the company chose Check Point 1200R Rugged Appliances to secure its work centers. These appliances deliver integrated security in harsh environments and support a wide range of industrial-specific protocols for comprehensive coverage. They include next-generation firewall, IPS, application control, antivirus, anti-bot for full-featured defense of the ICS systems, and network bridges between OT and IT systems. The company also uses Check Point R80 cyber security management to manage the 50 Check Point 1200R appliances deployed across multiple work centers globally. Check Point R80 consolidates systems, policies, and management into a unified console for management simplicity. It enables granular control to save time and ensure consistency across environments.

Operational Impact

The deployment of Check Point 1200R appliances between the IT network and OT networks has significantly improved the company's security posture. These appliances monitor all traffic going in and out of the company’s manufacturing facilities, using next-generation firewall and IPS to detect inbound threats to SCADA and control networks. The Check Point R80 cyber security management runs as a virtual machine, providing a single pane of glass for administering the entire environment. This has eliminated the need for team members to log into each device individually, saving hours of time. Concurrent administration features enable multiple administrators to be logged in at the same time to increase efficiency. All policy changes can be reviewed before they are installed to further reduce risk. The company now rests assured that critical systems and employees are protected.

Quantitative Benefit

Prevented security incidents and protected employees from security-related accidents
Saved hours of management time with consolidated security management in a single pane of glass
Avoided costs associated with adding security staff, electrical infrastructure, and space