Why Smart Technology Might Be Putting your Manufacturing Process At Risk
The ever-expanding network of sensors, robots, and networked technologies available to today’s manufacturing organizations offers a wide range of benefits. However, if they’re not properly secured, these devices can present serious security and continuity risks. Do you know how to manage your smart technology effectively?
If you’re keeping up with the manufacturing world around you, it’s likely that you’ve started using some form of “smart” technology. Regardless of the extent to which you’ve adopted this type of technology, it’s all but guaranteed to increase in the coming years — experts expect there to be 75 billion such devices online by 2025.
For all the benefits smart technology has to offer, it’s equally important to consider the cybersecurity risks that it poses to your organization. Are you sure smart technology is not compromising the safety of your data, and your organization as a whole?
What Is Smart Technology?
Smart technology (also known as the Internet of Things, or IoT, by consumers) refers to a range of new "smart" and "connected" products and technologies. For the manufacturing industry, this generally includes:
Operating Technology (OT)
Industrial Controls or Industrial Control Systems
Network Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)
In the manufacturing world, smart technology, such as sensors, robots, and networked technologies, is playing a key role in digital transformation across the industry- Digital has quickly replaced mechanical. In the last decade, manufacturers have increasingly been adopting this change, which is all a part of what is being called the “4th industrial revolution”, or, Industry 4.0.
Industry 4.0 consolidates workplace technology, allowing systems to communicate with one another, and ultimately, get smarter as they gain access to more and more data. Essentially, the goal is for your computers to make decisions without any sort of human involvement.
Factories that embrace Industry 4.0 become more productive, efficient, and less wasteful. Goods become higher-quality while taking less time and money to produce.
Is Smart Technology Secure?
Although the technology is considered smart, it is not necessarily secure. Manufacturers must consider that while the addition of various OT and PLC devices can increase efficiency, they can also increase the opportunities for data to be compromised and generate exponentially higher risk to the entire organization — thus, these solutions-based devices are quickly becoming frequent and popular targets for cybercriminals.
The question remains - What are the risks?
As a so-far unregulated aspect of the business world, smart devices have been developed with minimal or nonexistent security features, despite the fact that they often connect over networks that are also handling sensitive data. If your networked devices aren’t safeguarded, cybercriminals can turn these devices into multiple points of access to your otherwise protected network. As an open side-door to your network, access to these devices can lead to a lot of damage to your IoT ecosystem:
Shutting down or tampering with operations: When a malicious actor compromises your system via a connected device, a more threatening outcome lies with the ability for the hacker to access your industrial system controls. This can lead to sabotaging and shutting down your manufacturing process, holding your operation for ransom, damaging the integrity of the products being manufactured, or simply bringing everything to a complete halt.
Stealing and duplicating proprietary designs: With full access to your network and industrial control systems, bad actors can also duplicate proprietary manufacturing processes, leading to your designs being held for ransom, duplicated in another country, or even sold on the Dark Web.
Obtaining and leaking sensitive operational data: A data breach puts your sensitive data and privacy at major risk as cyber criminals can choose to access, delete, sell, or hold your data for ransom including; client & partner data, employee data, financial data, and organizational trade secrets.
How Can You Use Smart Devices Securely?
Statistica estimates that only 28% of business executives are intending to invest further in security for smart technology. Furthermore, 90% of firms experienced at least one breach of their OT systems in 2020.
How can you mitigate the risks?
For today’s manufacturers, there is a critical need for cyber risk management to keep up with the industry’s ever-rising innovations. Users that are concerned about the security risks of their smart devices and networks can start to improve their defences simply by treating their devices like they would any others, and follow these key cybersecurity best practices:
Password Management: Just as a user shouldn’t leave the default administrator login and password set on their router, their laptop, or other hardware, they shouldn’t do so with the networked robotics either.
Smart technology users should make sure to set unique and complex passwords for all devices that are connected to the organization’s network and update them every 90 days.Use Isolated Networks: Isolating OT and other smart technology to their own private networks will make it easier to provide protection against breaches — if someone is able to hack into your smart technology, it won’t give them access to the rest of your network.
Network Monitoring: Using a more layered approach to network security can incorporate hardware devices, such as professionally configured and maintained network firewalls to help identify whether the information is coming from a listed/safe device, or from a device outside of the trusted network.
Additionally, network visibility and reporting can incorporate out-of-the-box best practices to recognize whether a device has become exploited by targeting suspicious data traffic and monitoring whether or not the commands are originating from the listed device or by an endpoint outside of the network.
Updates and Patch Management: Just as patches and updates need to be applied for conventional software and hardware in use, the same is true of smart devices. The firmware that these devices operate on will need to be kept up-to-date with the latest patches issued by the developers to make sure that they are kept secure against recently discovered vulnerabilities.
Commercial Grade Firewalls: As we mentioned, this type of security hardware adds another layer of protection between hackers and your smart technology, ensuring it’s kept safe from common types of attacks. Make sure you invest in commercial-grade firewalls, which are developed with business use and purposes in mind, as opposed to limited consumer firewalls.
Let Us Help You Manage And Secure Your Organization’s Smart Technology
The time is now to adopt digital transformation and begin the transition to Industry 4.0 and smart factories. Get in touch with one of our manufacturing IT industry experts for direct advice on how to evolve your organization into a secure, digital environment.
No matter where you are in your digital transformation process, happier IT can provide the security and IT leadership needed to guide you through the process: