Germany’s manufacturing prowess is built on longevity and precision. In the automotive sector, it’s not uncommon to find multimillion-euro production machines that perform as perfectly today as they did twenty years ago. However, these engineering marvels often rely on a hidden "Achilles' heel": legacy operating systems like Windows XP or Windows 7.
As the NIS2 Directive becomes a reality for German organizations, the pressure to secure these "un-patchable" environments has moved from a "nice-to-have" to a legal necessity. But how do you secure a machine that cannot run modern antivirus software or even connect directly to a standard VPN?
The Compliance Baseline: NIS2 and Zero Trust
For many IT directors, NIS2 and Zero Trust are often viewed as a "tick-box" exercise, a regulatory hurdle to be cleared to maintain registration. While G/ON fully satisfies these requirements by enforcing strict identity-based access and encryption, compliance is just the starting point. The real value lies in solving the operational nightmares that standard security tools ignore.
1. The Legacy OS Dilemma: Protection Without Patches
In the automotive industry, specialized diagnostic software or CNC controllers are often "married" to outdated OS versions. Updating the OS would break the software; replacing the machine is financially unfeasible.
G/ON provides a Virtual Airlock. Instead of placing these vulnerable machines on the general network or exposing them via a traditional VPN, G/ON creates a secure, isolated path. The remote user interacts only with the application UI, while the legacy OS remains invisible and unreachable from the outside world. You aren't fixing the old OS; you are building a modern fortress around it.
2. Hardware Agnosticism: The BYOD Reality
Managing a fleet of corporate laptops is a logistical burden. G/ON is entirely hardware agnostic. Whether an employee is using a high-end workstation, a personal MacBook, or a tablet, the experience is identical.
This is particularly vital for German companies employing external contractors or specialized engineers who need to dial into the on-prem applications. You no longer need to worry about the security posture of the contractor’s device. G/ON treats the underlying hardware as a "dumb terminal," ensuring that the host device’s vulnerabilities never touch your sensitive production data.
3. The "No Antivirus? No Problem" Approach
One of the biggest risks in OT (Operational Technology) is the lack of modern virus control. You cannot install a modern EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) agent on Windows 2000. Because G/ON uses a Zero-Footprint approach, no data is ever stored on the remote device, and no network traffic is bridged. This effectively neutralizes the risk of a virus on a user's laptop "hopping" onto a production machine. It provides a level of security that exceeds what traditional antivirus could offer, even on supported systems.
4. Beyond the VPN: A Superior Alternative
Traditional VPNs are "network-centric." They give a user a pipe into the network, and once inside, that user (or the malware they unknowingly carry) can often move laterally.
G/ON is "application-centric." It replaces the clunky, often unreliable VPN with a surgical connection. A user doesn't get "onto the network" - they get "into the application." For an IT team, this means fewer support tickets regarding dropped VPN connections and a significantly reduced attack surface.
5. "Plug-and-Perform": Zero-Configuration Productivity
We like to call it the "Plug-and-Perform" approach (or as some of our more candid engineers say: "Just Stick It In & Use It").
By using the G/ON Key, a bootable hardware token, any PC is instantly transformed into a secure corporate workstation. There is:
- No software to install.
- No local configuration required.
- No footprint left behind.
For the end-user, it is the ultimate frictionless experience. For the IT department, it is the ultimate control mechanism.
For German manufacturers, the goal isn't just to satisfy a regulator in Berlin or Brussels. The goal is to keep the production line moving without inviting a ransomware catastrophe.
Soliton G/ON turns the "weakest links", legacy machines and unmanaged remote devices into a streamlined, secure, and compliant ecosystem. It’s time to move past the tick-box exercise and embrace a solution that understands the security limitation and reality of the factory floor.