Industrial equipment cyber evaluation
Cyber‑crime and industrial espionage continue to pose serious risks for organisations of every size, in particular ransomware attacks and the loss of valuable intellectual property. At the MTC, we help businesses strengthen their resilience by providing practical, industry‑focused cyber‑security support that spans both enterprise IT and the unique challenges of operational technology environments. Working alongside specialist partners, we combine technical expertise with cutting‑edge tools and technologies to deliver robust assessments, secure‑by‑design approaches, and trusted guidance on compliance and certification. This collaborative model ensures companies can confidently embrace digital transformation, protect their operations, and safeguard the innovation that drives their competitiveness.
Building on this foundation, this case study brings these capabilities to life - showing how our team applied MTC’s cyber‑security expertise in a real industrial setting to uncover vulnerabilities that could be exploited to disrupt manufacturing and/or exfiltrate (sensitive) information.
Challenge
As they become more affordable, additive manufacturing printers are increasingly seen in manufacturing environments. These devices often do not undergo as rigorous security testing as high-end solutions by larger organisations.
Solution
MTC in close collaboration with Bosch Global Software Technologies devised an evaluation methodology for testing the security posture, and risk associated with connected manufacturing assets.
This was follow-on work from earlier project work using the Faraday enclosure, taking a different approach to investigate manufacturing assets. The methodology performs a full assessment of a device, from identifying potential vulnerabilities and techniques on how exploit the vulnerabilities in real life scenarios to monitoring and analysing the network traffic and communications generated by a device. This allows us to develop and understanding of the require data and communication for connected manufacturing devices, and deliver trust in the information being processed, how securely data is handled, and where data is being processed globally.
The output includes a customer report, with recommended mitigation strategies for the customers and reportable vulnerabilities to the equipment supplier (OEM).
Impact
The vulnerabilities identified during the assessment highlighted just how exposed the organisation could have been without intervention. Several weaknesses had the potential to enable data manipulation and exfiltration, disrupt production continuity, or allow the silent loss of valuable intellectual property — risks that are especially pronounced as additive manufacturing equipment becomes more widely adopted across industry.
Examples of vulnerabilities in connected manufacturing equipment include outdated embedded operating systems, undisclosed wireless interfaces, and hidden data pathways. A determined attacker could exploit these gaps to compromise assets that are assumed to be safe. For companies operating within defence and aerospace supply chains, such breaches can result in regulatory non‑compliance, jeopardising contracts and impact reputational trust.
Collaboration and impact
Our cyber‑security work is strengthened by close collaboration with a network of specialist partners, each bringing targeted expertise that enhances the depth and rigour of our assessments. These organisations complement the MTC team across areas such as ethical hacking, network monitoring, OT (operational technology) security technologies, and airspace analysis — ensuring every evaluation is grounded in real‑world capability and actionable insight. The following partners played a key role in supporting this case study, contributing to the planning, testing, and validation activities that shaped its outcomes,
Bosch Global Software Technologies
MTC is working in close collaboration with Bosch to perform in-depth OT penetration testing on connected manufacturing equipment. Supporting the development of industrial equipment evaluation methodology and providing key insights into various manufacturing sectors operational security and their unique requirements. Visit Bosch
Faraday Defense Corp
Provider of world leading faraday enclosures to monitor connected manufacturing equipment in an isolated and controlled environment. Assets in-use to support our capability include a Hardwall Modular Faraday enclosure, portable LX Faraday Tent enclosure and a NEXUS Forensic Mini-Lab (tabletop Faraday glovebox). Visit Faraday Defense.
Garland Technology
Manufacturer of network visibility hardware including Network TAPs, Aggregators, Packet Brokers, and Hardware Data Diodes. Since 2011, Garland Technology has been helping organisations’ OT and IT network monitoring and security sensors deliver on their promise of performance and protection because Garland Technology reliably delivers the packet-level data the sensors need to perform. Visit Garland Technology.
LOCH Technologies
AirShield delivers hardware- and software-based wireless airspace defence purpose-built for ICS/OT environments, enabling continuous detection of undocumented or unauthorized wireless interfaces embedded within operational technology assets. The platform identifies and classifies Wi-Fi, cellular (4G/5G), ISM, Bluetooth, and other RF communications to provide full-spectrum visibility, risk assessment, and operational assurance across mission-critical infrastructure. Visit Loch Technologies.
SolutionsPT
Key partner and provider of cyber security technologies as well as training specifically tailored to protect OT environments. SPT facilitates access to commercial OT monitoring solutions such as Claroty and Tenable for MTC to evaluate, along with delivering tailored training for OT engineers on cybersecurity and networking. Visit SolutionsPT.
Cyber threats to UK industry are increasing rapidly. MTC helps manufacturers innovate securely with enterprise, industrial and secure‑by‑design cyber services—strengthening resilience, supporting compliance, and enabling confident adoption of connected technologies across modern manufacturing and supply chains.
