| The Situation
Carlsberg Group, a global brewing company originating in Denmark, operates more than 80 facilities worldwide, producing more than 140 brands. As a responsible manufacturer, Carlsberg recognizes the critical importance of security in modern operational technology (OT) environments. This challenge marked the entry point for TXOne Networks into Carlsberg’s mission to “secure the brew”.
“Traditionally, each brewery was like a castle with its own protective walls. If something went wrong, the threat came from within. But now, we aim to extract data from our breweries and achieve real-time visibility, which necessitates exposing our brewing facilities to external systems. This is a challenge faced by all manufacturers, as we now have to manage technologies that didn’t exist in the past.”
—Chris Thompson, Director of Brewery OT Security at Carlsberg Group
| The Switch
With trust as a guiding principle, Chris tested various solutions, including one offered by TXOne Networks. “Havinga specialized vendor and a product specifically designed for OT was critical for me”, he explains. “Too often, I hear discussions about excellent enterprise tools being promoted as potential solutions for OT environments when they simply don’t fit. TXOne Networks gives me confidence that it won’t disrupt my operations.”
TXOne Networks also met Carlsberg’s expectations for another reason. “Take, for example, a Windows XP HMI running on a packaging line”, Chris says. “The typical (and correct) IT response would be to upgrade it. However, upgrading might require replacing the entire packaging line, which involves an investment that could cost millions of euros. Replicating this across all our facilities would be financially unfeasible.”
| The Result
“Thanks to OT security solution Stellar, TXOne Networks helps us mitigate risks that we couldn’t address yesterday without making significant financial investments”, explains Chris. “To put this into perspective: if a brewery has, let’s say, 5,000 assets and we use Stellar to protect just 50 of them, those 50 assets alone could have cost the company millions to replace.”
“We recently conducted a penetration test at one of our breweries to evaluate the technologies we’ve implemented. TXOne Networks reacted as we anticipated. So, the test was an undeniable success.”
—Chris Thompson, Director of Brewery OT Security at Carlsberg Group
