October 2019

| 24 | October 2019 www.smartmachinesandfactories.com | SOLUTIONS | As the manufacturing sector continues to expand its reliance on digital technology, data has become a valuable form of currency to potential hackers. Last year, the Chinese government was accused of repeatedly hacking a company to try to steal and replicate the design of a turbofan engine for commercial jetliners, highlighting the value often lurking in plant environments. Lee Carter, Industrial Network and Cyber Security product manager at SolutionsPT, looks at how early threat detection is crucial to prevent prolonged access to sensitive data and to protect valuable assets. Industry 4.0, it’s no exaggeration to say that the way companies use their data can be the difference between success and failure. While recognising the value of data, it is also vital to understand the potential threat it poses. It has become so important to organisations, who will go to great lengths to keep it secure, its value to hackers has skyrocketed B y enabling quick and effective data gathering from massive numbers of machines and devices, digital technologies enable manufacturers to work faster and more efficiently while simultaneously reducing costs, and have become invaluable to the UK’s manufacturing industry in recent years. Central to all digital technologies is the combination of data and connectivity. By providing companies with an understanding of how their operations are performing in real time, it enables business to improve decision making, efficiencies, consistency and risk assessments in their plants, as well as ensuring unscheduled downtime does not disrupt production. In the era of Operational data – the new gold!