Getting Started with Factory Cybersecurity
, by Jim Ryan, 1 min reading time
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It's time to get used to the idea that manufacturers are at the top of the list of targets for hackers: state sponsored advanced persistent threats (APTs), hacktivists who despise manufacturing or a certain manufacturer, and criminals who simply want ransom money in as payment for unlocking the victim's data and/or computers. More on this here. Cybersecurity is now necessary for factory OT/ICS systems ((operational technology/industrial control systems). The problem is likely to get worse, given the shortage of cybersecurity specialists and the possibility that in a few years attackers will be able to gain enough control of OT systems to harm people physically.
But how to defend against this?
Here is a view from 30,000 ft on this; there are a few more details here, here, here, here, and here. There is a 2016 blog post from Cisco on seven steps you can take here. Finally, there is a list of considerations and best practices in this article.
An over-arching theme to all this is that OT/ICS cybersecurity is a special field of expertise in cybersecurity.