Medi, an internationally successful healthcare company, helps users and patients achieve the best possible therapeutic outcomes with a wide range of products and services in medical compression, orthopaedic insoles, and digital health solutions.

The production process at Medi is extremely agile: Within 24 hours of receiving the customer’s measurements from the medical supply store, the ordered compression stocking is knitted, inspected, packed, and shipped. Any delay in the flow of data could lead to delivery issues, and any deviation from the knitting pattern could lead to a flawed product.

This level of automation places high demands on production, including:

• Continuous data availability
• Minimization of processing latency
• Maximum security at IT/OT interfaces

As with many manufacturers, medi has been using its expensive and reliable machines for decades. As machine manufacturers rarely provide support for software updates or spare parts, the gap between the dynamic IT environment and the established OT environment continues to widen.

With a deep understanding of the cyber risks in the company’s IT/OT network, Michael Herde and his colleagues set out to find a comprehensive solution.

After the first meeting with TRIOVEGA, it quickly became clear that edge.SHIELDOR could directly address medi’s requirements.

The OT security software edge. SHIELDOR is deployed on the production line like a protective dome. It converts outdated and insecure protocols into modern versions, for example, upgrading from SMBv1 to SMBv3. This provides targeted protection for the system while still enabling communication with other network systems.

After concluding a Proof of Concept on a flat knitting machine, the TRIOVEGA team customized edge.SHIELDOR to meet medi’s operational requirements perfectly — the software was extended with an MS-DOS compatibility mode capable of handling the unique SMB dialect used by medi. Both sides were delighted with the productive and trusted cooperation.

The rollout of edge.SHIELDOR at medi led to increased production reliability without expensive retrofits or replacement machines, and stronger cyber resilience across the entire network. It also prepares the company for increasing regulatory requirements, such as those imposed by the NIS2 Directive.

The added value at a glance:

Targeted isolationerung of machines with insecure legacy protocols, such as SMBv1

Conversion from SMBv1 to SMBv3 for responsive, bidirectional process data transfer to/from legacy machines

Secure display sharing for remote access to systemsn

edge.SHIELDOR forms a secure bridge between IT and OT systems in the network

Extending the operational lifespan of MS-DOS machines through compatibility mode