Global Electronics Manufacturer Boosts Protection Against Supply Chain Threats and IPR Theft
Rapid security engineering to protect crucial business assets in perfect alignment with product development and manufacturing processes
Executive Summary
A major electronic manufacturer, with Threatplane's help, built protection against software/firmware intellectual property on its devices and against malicious insider risks arising in the manufacturing process, which was outsourced overseas. The project included tight constraints on performance (allowing the production line to maintain and then increase output with security controls included) and on smooth integration into cloud applications that would authenticate and interact with the devices once received and activated by the end customer.
Customer Profile
Company Overview
Industry: High-End Appliances
Size: Multi-billion dollar company
Product Scope: Consumer IoT Devices
Market Position: Highly Competitive
Technical Implementation
Risks: Intellectual property theft and supply chain attacks
Infrastructure: AWS serverless and in-factory bare metal
Manufacturing Scale: High-Volume Manufacturing
The Challenge
A major household-name electronic manufacturer needed to protect embedded intellectual property from competitors while ensuring device security for millions of home users in a highly competitive market.
Intellectual Property Protection
In a competitive market, embedded IP in devices needed protection from reverse engineering and competitor copying to prevent counterfeit products and maintain market position.
Device Security Requirements
Home-deployed devices needed secure boot capabilities to prevent malicious software installation and ensure only legitimate firmware runs on devices.
Manufacturing Integration
Security solutions needed integration with high-volume production processes without impacting manufacturing speed or efficiency.
Solution Overview
PKI Infrastructure Implementation
Complete public key infrastructure design and deployment supporting high-scale manufacturing processes with fast, efficient device certification.
- High-scale manufacturing process compatibility
- Fast, efficient device certification workflow
- Production line integration without velocity impact
- Cryptographic verification for IP protection
DevOps Integration & Manufacturing Process
Embedded security advisory across multiple development teams with seamless manufacturing systems integration.
- Mobile apps security advisory integration
- Cloud infrastructure and APIs security guidance
- Manufacturing systems integration support
- Multi-team development coordination
Results & Impact
Complete Boot Chain Security
Comprehensive verification from initial device power-on through full operational functionality
- Concrete device identity
Unique cryptographic signature for authentication and tracking
- Unauthorized software prevention
No unauthorized code execution
Production Scale Success
High-volume manufacturing integration maintains production efficiency
- Manufacturing velocity maintained
No production speed impact
- Every device secured
100% security implementation coverage
Customer Perspective
"The PKI and secure boot implementation has given us the confidence that our intellectual property is protected while maintaining our manufacturing efficiency. Our devices are now secured from the ground up, protecting both our IP and our customers."
Head of Security Engineering, Major Electronic Manufacturer