Case Study: University of Applied Sciences Vorarlberg achieves secure, resilient and segmented digital factory operations with Barracuda Networks CloudGen Firewall

Securing the digital factory at the University of Applied Sciences Vorarlberg

The Digital Factory at the University of Applied Sciences Vorarlberg is a research and teaching centre that models modern production processes and collaborates with industry and academic partners. Because the factory network is directly internet‑connected and must protect both IT and operational technology (OT) while maintaining continuous availability, the team needed to isolate the plant from the rest of the university, segment production systems, and secure vulnerable equipment such as assembly robots and CNC machines.

Barracuda implemented CloudGen Firewalls (F600 and F183R), Secure Connector appliances, a Secure Access Controller and centralized Firewall Control Center, using VLANs, Layer‑2 bridge mode, VPN access and threat controls (antivirus, IPS, ATP and industrial‑protocol filtering). The deployment delivered clean isolation from the university network, microsegmentation of production assets, secure VPN connectivity for partners and devices, uninterrupted operations and centralized, low‑maintenance cloud management.

University of Applied Sciences Vorarlberg

Robert Merz

Head of the Research Center Digital Factory