Remote control of machines easily, reliably and safely 

 "The need to control machines remotely is growing. We help customers achieve this in a reliable, user-friendly and secure way," says Sep Schraven, key account manager at HMS Networks. The company offers various products and services in both software and hardware that come together in the field of industrial communication as a flow within industrial automation. 

"Remote access is not new. The need has been around for a long time but continues to grow steadily. The pandemic, due to lockdowns and travel restrictions both domestically and abroad, boosted the demand for remote access solutions to take care of business remotely. In addition, in locations where such applications were already in place, awareness grew that different vendors could sometimes log into an end user's system very easily. That raised quite a few eyebrows. So the pandemic has not only accelerated, it has also created more awareness about security," Schraven explains. 

Miscellaneous questions

There is a distinction between the needs of the machine builder who builds and delivers this machine, on the one hand, and the end user, on the other. "They both want to be able to access the machine remotely, but for various purposes. However, the impact of an insecure connection is much greater with the end user since he is the one most affected, should something happen. This is important to factor into the Remote Access solution you choose. How does the machine builder work with the end customer? Is there transparency in the use and maintenance of the solution? Who is the person who provides IT for the administration? And so on. Those kinds of questions are being asked much more frequently since the pandemic."

System side and human aspect

Security has taken on a much larger role. "On the one hand, there is the technical side where the system must meet a number of criteria to be IT secure. On the other hand, there is the human aspect. The system must be set up in such a way that management, use and maintenance of the solution intuitively encourages the user to use the solution in a secure way. Think about how you handle authentication, user rights and keeping it all up-to-date."

Solution 

HMS Networks offers a secure and reliable solution based on Ewon hardware and cloud to remotely access machines using vpn technology. With growing awareness and security standards, Ewon by HMS Networks has the Ewon Cosy+ launched, a new generation of industrial gateways with an unprecedented level of hardware security. Ewon has been voted best Remote Access vendor for eight consecutive years, and for good reason. The solution was developed based on a six-part layered security strategy. It covers the entire scope, from hardware to cloud and software that the user logs in with. "In terms of laws and regulations, we see more attention to cybersecurity in Europe. For example, from European Legislation, a standard in the field of cybersecurity NIS2 was created as a successor to NIS1. NIS1 was limited to a number of critical sectors, but NIS2 is much broader. Our systems are already fully compliant with NIS2. In addition, our systems are fully ISO27001 certified. This goes one step further than NIS2. Compliance with ISO27001 certification confirms that we have implemented information security solutions to protect users, their information and their data in accordance with internationally recognized standards."

Hacking 

But HMS Networks goes one step further. "We work with external partner NVISO. She is part of our development process. She advises us on security, performs risk analyses and reviews our security choices prior to development. We ask NVISO to test every major change we make to our solution. It does this completely independently. In addition, she is also part of our vulnerability and incident management processes."

Expertise is needed

Being able to maintain machines remotely is a must these days. "In this regard, it is important to be guided by external experts with expertise so that it is done in a simple, reliable and secure way. Since hackers are also getting smarter, we continue to monitor the developments from our international HMS organization in order to continue providing the best solutions to our customers."