by Industrial Print Magazine Staff
Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are vulnerable to cyberattacks, intellectual property being stolen, and much more due to internet connectivity. With help from various software vendors—as well as regular firmware updates from your hardware vendor—these vulnerabilities are preventable.
Security is discussed in more detail in our June issue. Below we share information on various solutions at your disposal.
3YOURMIND offers on demand solutions for manufacturing. Its software security includes three code vulnerability scanners, a penetration test with 102401 attacks, built with solid technology, security audit logs and history, code reviews and automated tests, and updated dependancies.
Authentise’s solution is trusted by some of the most security conscious organizations such as Honeywell and the Atomic Weapons Establishment. Not only does it meet the security standards and can deploy remotely, but as an end-to-end solution it empowers further security by making it unnecessary to share files via USB stick and giving specific users only access to the information they need.
Intech does not have a standalone software for security, however security is based into its product development through use of secure elements, authenticating devices, web firewalls, and encrypted key management.
Kraetonics has developed a tool called binary diversification (BINDIV) that provides passive protections to computer systems. Its engineers have spent decades working in the offensive security field performing reverse engineering, discovering vulnerabilities, and developing exploits. Using the inside knowledge of offensive security capabilities it developed BINDIV to incorporate defensive strategies to protect these systems. The goal is to support manufacturers to integrate BINDIV into development operations pipeline to prevent bad actors from being able to massively exploit systems. The research to develop BINDIV was funded by advanced research projects agency for health to provide protections for hospitals. AM platforms run similar embedded architectures as medical devices and BINDIV can benefit these manufacturers to enable passive protections of their systems from being exploited by bad actors.
At Nikon SLM Solutions, software security is integral to its mission of industrializing AM. Its systems operate within an open architecture, minimizing external access points and ensuring internal control. User Authentication and Permissions mean every user action on our NXG XII 600 and other systems is tracked and access controlled, enabling robust auditability. Secure Data Handling allows build files and parameter sets to be stored with checksum validation to prevent tampering. System Hardening—machines follow secure boot processes, and firmware updates are signed and verified. Remote Access Management—service portals are gated by VPN and multi-factor authentication, with customer-defined access rules. Monitoring and Alerts are offered via machine analytics and real-time event logging to detect anomalies across print jobs, material usage, and machine status. It also actively collaborates with partners across the AM software ecosystem to integrate deeper AI-powered threat detection and compliance-driven reporting tools.
Wibu Systems’ CodeMeter technology uses sophisticated cryptographic processes to encrypt digital intellectual property (IP) and create licenses for the protected IP to be used, safely and securely, anytime and anywhere, with easy integration with existing process chains. e-Marketplaces are becoming popular where registered customers can order digital files for printing their own three-dimensional (3D) objects. Instead of the finished object, the buyer can receive the object design in the form of an encrypted file for their own printing.
With CodeMeter, the protected file is accompanied by a specific pre-processing license to prepare the 3D printing process. Another printing license specific to each other then determines how many physical copies the client is allowed to create from the design they have purchased.
CodeMeter represents a crucial link in the process chain, taking over protection and license management for all components involved. The CodeMeter encryption technology for the 3D designs and print jobs is available in the form of libraries for many target platforms and developer languages that the makers of preprocessing and 3D printing software can use to integrate IP protection in 3D printing with little effort. The cryptographic keys necessary for the process can be securely stored, depending on the operating conditions and the desired level of protection, on CodeMeter dongles, software containers, or cloud-based license containers.
CodeMeter License Central makes it easy to prepare and distribute the preprocessing and printing licenses, with webservice interfaces again available for easier integration in existing e-commerce or CRM landscapes. Ideally, the licenses are delivered by simple online activation, but file transfer solutions are available for target systems or 3D printers without direct online connectivity.
The encrypted 3D printing files can only be accessed if the preprocessing licenses are available on the workstation, and a printer could create only as many copies of the item as the printing license allows. To guarantee that, the printing license not only includes the necessary cryptographic keys, but also a tamperproof unit counter to keep track of how many items have actually been printed.
May2025, Industrial Print Magazine
