Nel improves customer cybersecurity with Advenica data diodes

Nel, a leading player within hydrogen technology, uses data diodes from Advenica to protect customer installations control systems from cyberattacks.

Industry companies such as Nel could be a direct target for cyberattacks today, making it strategically and tactically important to protect the industrial control systems to avoid devastating consequences to safety. Operations that are digitalised for monitoring and control are particularly vulnerable to these kinds of attacks if not dealt with in a proper manner. Insufficient security can jeopardise competitiveness today, and even the long-term future of the company.

Challenge: Protect facilities and valuable information from cyberattacks

Nel is a leading pure play hydrogen technology company with a global presence. They specialise in PEM and Alkaline electrolyser technology for production of renewable hydrogen. Their product offerings are key enablers for a green hydrogen economy, making it possible to decarbonise various industries such as transportation, refining, steel, and ammonia.

To protect customer facilities from cyberattacks, and their operations from being exposed, Nel wanted a security solution that they and their customers could trust. Their customers work with highly sensitive and socially important industries, some even closely integrated in energy grids, that could be seriously harmed by an attack, which may result in severe outages, explosions and even deaths. This is why Nel wanted to make sure such possibilities were mitigated.

Solution: One-way information flow secured with data diodes

Nel found Advenica data diodes to fit their need for high assurance unidirectional communication in a small and industrial formfactor.

As Nel already knew, the very existence of an information flow exposes systems on both sides of the flow to various security related risks. By placing a data diode between the source network and the destination network, the data diode ensures a unidirectional data transfer. This means that the data diode guarantees, with assurance at the highest level, that information can only pass one-way from the source network to the destination network. 

For Nel it was important that the formfactor was small and DIN-rail mountable. Total cost of ownership and persistent cybersecurity were key factors.

The product that was best suited for Nel was Advenica’s data diode DD1G, a data diode with Gigabit performance, including a purpose-built optical technology that secures the separation of the two connected networks.

Nel has now developed their own software to communicate through the DD1G, which means that they are in full control of the whole communication flow.

“The Advenica data diode gives us a very good and secure solution to a difficult challenge. Advenica has been very flexible and supporting to us” says Rune Flaten Værnes, Software Architect at Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser.

Outcome: Valuable information is protected with trusted solutions

With the DD1G in place both Nel and their customers can trust that their infrastructure is protected in the best way possible.

The data diode is a security solution that is easy for Nel to explain to their customers. The fact that it acts as a check valve whose function only allows data to be sent in one direction while blocking all data in the opposite direction is easily understood and trusted. As customers to Nel have both sensitive systems and work in sectors crucial to society, trust is key.