Liebherr-Components and Reycom deliver end to end RISE Security with Microsoft Defender for IoT for Linux and Windows IoT

Connecting the wheels of a changing industry

A passion for tinkering and a pioneering invention in 1949—the mobile tower crane—led to the creation of a multinational corporation boasting €11.5 billion in revenues. Today, the more than 140 subsidiaries that constitute the Liebherr Group keep over 50,000 employees busy creating technologies as diverse as refrigeration and freezing, materials handling equipment, aerospace and transportation systems, hotels, and much more. The Group’s product segment, Liebherr-Components, develops and manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of high-quality components for both Liebherr machines and external customers. Liebherr-Components aims to support its external customers with one-stop shop convenience as they transform to providing digital goods and services in an increasingly connected world. Performance on demand has become nonnegotiable in many branches of industry, like agriculture. Looking ahead, Liebherr-Components envisioned an easily deployed and maintained security system that enables customers to innovate without worrying about the nuts and bolts of safeguarding their Internet of Things (IoT) devices and maintaining platforms.

Liebherr-Components needed the right partner to turn its vision into reality. Reycom AG, a Swiss original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and software as a service provider with a more than two-decade history of creating state-of-the-art entertainment and smart home systems, shares both the future-oriented vision of connected solutions and a passion for quality. Its 20-year partnership with Microsoft and AI expertise exactly matched Liebherr-Components’ goals. With Microsoft’s future-first IoT security technologies, Microsoft Defender for IoT and Device Update for Azure IoT Hub, the partners have created their first iteration of a turnkey IoT security solution, RISE (Reycom Industrial Secure Edge platform) which helps companies of all sizes and maturity levels optimize connected device management.

Anticipating threats and adapting with preemptive security

Founder Hans Liebherr made customer satisfaction a core value of Liebherr-Components. He focused on developing and producing high-quality equipment, insisting that his employees not rest until its customers and partners approve the quality of components and machines that Liebherr produces. That means correctly understanding customers’ applications and creating the necessary core competences in-house. A world where everything from digital signage to heavy machinery is connected holds awe-inspiring promise for the future of digitization. Claus von Reibnitz, Managing Director at Liebherr-Electronics and Drives GmbH, works to protect these goals. But vulnerabilities can come from anywhere, endangering the plethora of connected devices. “Think of a machine moving tons of material,” he says. “A compromised machine is a dangerous machine. And shutting down only one machine for a day can mean a loss of up to a million dollars in lost productivity.” Von Reibnitz points to a growing list of incentives for companies to embrace AI and IoT technology: a shortage of skilled machine operators, the need to stay competitive in a time of lightning-fast AI adoption, and the need to deploy autonomous machines to areas where it’s difficult to support human operators. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated that trend—equipment operators around the world couldn’t work onsite, which disrupted multiple global supply chains.

Pressured to keep up in an increasingly autonomous world, Liebherr-Components’ external customers have realized that securing those devices against malicious actors has to be top priority. But security management is a daunting, time-consuming activity that distracts companies from value-added innovation. “We wanted to offer a permanently managed, highly secure solution,” says von Reibnitz.

Liebherr traditionally develops its own in-house solutions that are perfectly customized for Liebherr machinery and more than 80,000 IoT devices in the field. Along with Reycom, Liebherr-Components also developed an end-to-end IoT solution for external customers. The ever-growing demand for value-added digital services and connectivity in industries like agriculture required a scalable and easily adapted solution. Reycom shared Liebherr-Components’ enthusiasm for quality and could provide IoT communications expertise. The Swiss partner had the innovative drive, track record, and shared vision to fully align with Liebherr-Components’ future-first strategy.

Matching strengths, skills, and commitment to a sustainable solution

“The alliance between Liebherr-Components and Reycom was as carefully considered as a marriage,” says von Reibnitz. “We work toward a win-win situation for all partners—and, of course, our customers. The technology must be a good fit, and we must also align strategically. And above all, trust is vital. After a decade-long relationship, we trust Reycom. We’re a perfect match.”

Reycom used its experience from its consumer business and its NEO™ smart living platform, winner of multiple awards, to develop its highly secure edge-to-cloud platform, RISE. The scalable, modular, end-to-end solution supports IoT devices and applications that run on Linux, real-time operating systems, and Windows IoT Enterprise. It delivers the usability that helps Liebherr-Components customers adjust to a digital and AI-driven world, aiding industries’ digital transformations. “Whether delivering entertainment content to consumers on their televisions or security updates to IoT devices, it’s crucial to have strong partnerships,” explains Pascal Rey, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Reycom. “Our collaboration with Liebherr-Components and Microsoft mesh with our capabilities to create a complete solution.” 

Uniting technologies to deliver IoT protection for the future

In line with the motto “Deliver, switch on, work,” Liebherr-Components and Reycom have created an IoT device security solution that combines their strengths with those of Defender for IoT. The innate usability of the latter eases an entry into the AI world, providing the scalability and stability that customers need. The popularity of IoT devices using Microsoft technology further fueled the decision to join forces with Microsoft. “By using Microsoft solutions like Defender for IoT, which is so prevalent, we expand the number of devices being defended,” says von Reibnitz. “That gives us a broader coverage on global security events that we wouldn’t otherwise have.”

Customers increasingly require education about securing their environments, with requests for specific capabilities and certifications from more mature organizations. “Our partnership with Reycom and Microsoft helps reassure customers about security,” says Martin Lorenzen, Head of Product Line Performance Computing at Liebherr-Electronics and Drives GmbH. “Customers trust Microsoft solutions. The synergy between our three companies promises an exceptional IoT security solution that will generate significant value for customers across a range of industries.”

Gaining speed for competitive advantage

Today’s competitive space doesn’t permit the luxury of time. “The solution offers our customers the ability to take their products to market very quickly,” explains Rey. “One of the main benefits for us is device life cycle security from manufacturing until end of support and the analytics offered by Defender for IoT that shows a complete licensing profile. That helps us provide the information needed for a company to satisfy its legal licensing requirements for Linux or general open-source environments and Windows IoT.” Lorenzen adds, “One of the advantages we gain from using Defender for IoT and our collaboration with Microsoft and is the ability to work directly with development teams. This enables quick responsiveness during the entire product life cycle, which can last up to 20 years.”

Similarly, the partnership between Liebherr-Components and Reycom anticipates a shortened time to market. “Upcoming regulations will put more responsibility on manufacturers, increasing the need for ongoing visibility over the devices they sell,” notes Rey. “With Defender for IoT and Device Update for Azure IoT Hub, we can use one Azure portal to manage employee access to devices, which helps our customers reduce time to market for our own product and shortens the ROI cycle.”

Both companies see vast opportunities in a more connected world. “I expect a big increase in digitization and AI in the industry,” concludes Rey. “By combining Defender for IoT and Device Update for Azure IoT Hub, we’ll have the efficiency and flexibility to cover multiple use cases on more powerful hardware yet be able to protect multiple operating systems and applications on a single device.” Von Reibnitz agrees. “The demand for autonomous, connected machines is huge and growing,” he says. “By partnering with companies like Reycom and Microsoft, we can create a best-in-class IoT solution that takes trustworthiness and reliability to the next level.”

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