March 2019

| 28 | March 2019 www.smartmachinesandfactories.com | SOLUTIONS | S mart Manufacturing relies on a greater convergence of the IT and OT layers of a business and if that is applied to an existing plant, it would be reasonable to assume that the potential for cyber-attack, if not understood and mitigated against would be higher. If we were designing a new plant on a greenfield site, it would be relatively easy to build it while being mindful of all the current cyber-security issues and vulnerabilities. The reality is that most manufacturing plants in the UK have been around a long time and most of the automation considerations are centred around productivity not cyber- security. In this existing industrial landscape, it was realised that control systems were potentially vulnerable, often due to out of date or poorly maintained operating systems and CD drives or USB ports that had not been locked down. Cyber-security is an arms race of escalating capabilities, so ‘defenders’ of vulnerable assets must see it as a journey rather than a destination, constantly reassessing the situation and implementing new defences whenever necessary. This is against the background of developing technologies and requirements that mean control systems are always becoming bigger, more complex, more Cyber-security in the emerging digital world It seems a long time ago now since various malware attacks on the operational layer changed the security landscape and highlighted vulnerabilities in the de-facto automation architecture. However, as we move along the road towards Smart Manufacturing with a view to improving efficiency, productivity and reliability of supply using the principles of Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), the subject of cyber-security is becoming arguably even more important. Chris Evans, marketing & operations group manager at Mitsubishi Electric reports.