NEWDELHI: Industrial solutions company Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) on Thursday launched a software for industrial sites that protects facilities against emerging USB-borne threats.

Honeywell's new Secure Media Exchange (SMX) secures facilities without the need for complex procedures or restrictions that impact operations or industrial personnel.

Malware spread through USB devices was the second leading threat to industrial control systems in 2016, the company said in a statement.

"Many employees in industries rely on USB-removable media to get their jobs done. Plants need solutions that let people work efficiently, but also don't compromise cyber security and, with it, industrial safety," said Eric Knapp, Cyber Security chief engineer, HPS.

Currently, many plants either ban USBs which is difficult to enforce and significantly reduces productivity.

"SMX is a great example of Honeywell's major investments in new industrial cyber security technologies which further strengthen our ability to secure and protect industrial assets," said Jeff Zindel, Vice President Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security.

SMX provides multi-layered protection for managing USB security, letting users simply plug in and check devices for approved use in the facility.

It helps prevent the spread of malware through removable media and stops unverified files being read by Windows hosts.

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