Honeywell SMX is the world’s strongest industrial USB cybersecurity protection

Thermo-Kinetics offers the SMX system by Honeywell.

Thermo-Kinetics Measurement & Control is known for its inventory of top industrial measuring devices, but it also offers cybersecurity protection by Honeywell Process Solutions. Honeywell’s latest advance in this field is the Secure Media Exchange, or SMX, which is designed to be the world’s strongest cybersecurity solution for USB protection.

SMX was developed by Honeywell in response to the discovery of the Stuxnet computer virus, which has complicated the use of USB keys and other removable media.

Unprecedented control and visibility

How likely is a malicious file trying to enter your site through an USB device? Close to 50 per cent probability, it turns out. In a recent study of businesses, 44 per cent have detected or blocked at least one malicious or suspicious file that represented a security issue. Of the threats SMX has blocked, 26 per cent had the potential to cause a major disruption to an industrial control environment, including loss of view or loss of control, and 16 per cent were targeted specifically against Industrial Control System (ICS) or Internet of Things (IoT) systems. In addition, 15 per cent of the total threats detected and blocked were high-profile, well-known threats, including Stuxnet (two per cent), Mirai (six per cent), TRITON (two per cent), and WannaCry (one per cent).

Stuxnet has spurred organizations to find more secure means of using and monitoring removable media, as previous cybersecurity protection tools have proved inadequate. Removable media are vital to maintaining the availability and security of plant processes in many sectors, like pulp and paper, oil and gas, mining, minerals, pharmaceuticals, power generation, buildings, aerospace, and general manufacturing. USBs are a principal method of updating and maintaining major system configurations, but are among the top threat vectors in these industries.

The solution: Honeywell SMX, which reduces cybersecurity risk and limits operational disruptions by monitoring, protecting, and logging use of removable media throughout facilities. SMX gives plant operators unprecedented control and visibility into how securely employees and contractors use USBs and other removable media, lowering cyber risk to process control networks worldwide.

SMX offers the latest in advanced threat-detection technology for critical infrastructures and isolated network environments, while bridging the device between IT and OT requirements for safer process manufacturing. This system delivers vendor-agnostic threat research updates as it closes security gas securely.

For more on this revolutionary new form of cybersecurity protection, check out the video below:

After years of supplying Honeywell products to Canadian businesses, Thermo-Kinetics has recently become a Platinum Channel Partner for the manufacturer. Honeywell recognized five of its top channel partners for process measurement and control at a major conference in Dallas last month. Thermo-Kinetics received the award for Channel Partner of the Year in field and process instruments.

Trust Thermo-Kinetics for the best in Honeywell’s innovative solutions.

To learn more, contact Thermo-Kinetics or call 1-800-268-0967.

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