SSH's Journey in the CHARM Project: Enhancing OT Security and Accessibility

During the CHARM project, we have developed technology to ensure secure access management, whether it's on-site or remote, for customers operating in the OT environment. Our collaboration with other partners in the CHARM consortium has been crucial, offering valuable insights and helping us better understand market needs.

The core of our contribution lies in our partnership with Valmet, a leading Finnish industrial company, where rigorous testing of innovative technologies took place. This collaborative effort resulted in tangible outcomes showcased at Valmet's testing facility, emphasizing our commitment to readiness and expertise enhancement.

From a technical standpoint, our achievements in the CHARM project are significant. The successful creation of network target access has revolutionized secure remote access to operational technology (OT) equipment, addressing critical cybersecurity concerns in industrial settings.

The implementation of the User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) functionality showcases our approach. Together with other partners, such as the Tampere University and the University of Lapland, we conducted comprehensive testing sessions at Valmet's facility, leveraging the substantial contributions from academic institutions to drive the project's success.

Read more about the CHARM project >>

Our partners' perspectives

Heikki Kettunen from Valmet acknowledges our role in the project, especially in the development of a secure remote access system through PrivX OT Edition. The solution not only enhances security but also provides valuable insights to users, reflecting our commitment to user-centric innovation.

“Valmet and SSH have been working on common IoT platform definitions and configurations in WP6. SSH's major development responsibility has been ensuring safe remote access, and there is a setup and system available for this purpose (PrivX). Valmet views the platform from the user's point of view. We developed a reliability monitoring system for our customers, and the developed SSH remote access is one option to use for providing remote access to the platform. Some of Valmet’s customers have chosen PrivX, and it has proved to be very useful; we have already gained experience from the development stage,” says Heikki Kettunen, project coordinator for CHARM.

Researcher Maria Ines Robles at FAST-Lab research group from Tampere University (TAU) emphasizes the joint efforts in testing security and architecture aspects at Valmet's premises. SSH's focus on cybersecurity complemented TAU's implementation of the FIWARE IoT Framework.

Antti Niemelä from the University of Lapland applauds the seamless integration of the PrivX system into their data integrator: “We found the collaboration with SSH effortless and very professional. We were impressed by how well the PrivX system installed into our data integrator without affecting the function of the other systems, while providing secure access to all the systems included, no matter how deep in the system stack the PrivX Extender server was installed.”

Our participation in the CHARM project represents our commitment to innovation, collaboration, and cybersecurity excellence. Through strategic partnerships and the continuous pursuit of technological advancements, we continue to elevate the standards of OT cybersecurity and accessibility, leaving a lasting impact on the industrial landscape.

PrivX OT Edition, a modern access security solution for OT businesses

At SSH Communications Security, we understand that securing critical infrastructure and OT enterprises demands comprehensive solutions beyond physical safety and basic access security. This is why we've developed PrivX OT Edition, a specialized secure access management solution crafted for IT/OT systems. With PrivX OT Edition, secure access to both modern and legacy OT assets in hybrid environments is guaranteed.

NOTE: The CHARM project has received funding from the ECSEL Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 876362. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and Finland, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland.