Industry 4.0 and Cybersecurity
In the era of Industry 4.0, due to the interconnected nature of enterprise operations, the pace of digital transformation of enterprises is accelerating, and the impact of cyber attacks is more widespread than ever before. It is very important that businesses need to pay attention not only to external threats, but also to the real and often overlooked cyber risks that are caused by the increasing use of smart, connected technologies in their innovation, transformation and modernization processes. Otherwise, the strategic business decisions made by the enterprise may lead to such risks.
It may be too late to think about how to address cyber risk until the strategic process is nearing the end, and companies should consider cybersecurity an integral part of strategy, design and operations from the outset when developing a connected Industry 4.0 plan. Figure 1 illustrates the life cycle of smart production and the corresponding cyber risks.
As the adoption of connected technologies continues to spread, cyber risks may increase and change, and may manifest differently at different stages of the value chain and for each company. Each business should fit into the industrial ecosystem in a way that best meets its needs. Businesses cannot address the cyber risks and threats posed by Industry 4.0 with just one simple workaround or product or patch. They need to adopt a secure, vigilant and resilient approach to understanding risks and eliminating threats:
Safety. Take a prudent, risk-based approach to clarify what is secure information and how to keep it secure. Is your company’s intellectual property secure? Is your company’s supply chain or industrial control system environment vulnerable to attack?
Vigilance. Continuously monitor systems, networks, devices, people and environments for possible threats. Real-time threat intelligence and artificial intelligence need to be leveraged to understand risky behavior and quickly identify threats posed by the introduction of large numbers of connected devices.
Toughness. Accidents can happen at any time. How will your company respond? How soon can normal operations resume? How will your company quickly eliminate the impact of an accident?
As businesses increasingly value the business value delivered by Industry 4.0, more than ever, companies will need to come up with cyber risk solutions that are secure, vigilant and resilient.