Probing the security issue

26 October, 2020

During the recent DFA Media Talking Industry webinar titled ‘Increasing Automation in the post-Covid era’, Brendan O’Dowd, general manager, industrial automation at Analog Devices, made the point that we have seen security increase in importance over the past few years due to some notable high-profile hacks. He reflects that manufacturing equipment is now much more connected than it used to be, and that connectivity is driving some real productivity improvements. He adds that data can help to enhance processes and efficiencies but points out that it can also provide opportunities for bad actors to exploit weaknesses in a company’s security regime if the right protocols are not in place. “Nobody really wants to consider that the local nuclear power plant could be hacked,” he remarks, adding that this security issue, of course, also applies to equipment and components such as valves and flowmeters through to the control systems. “So, we have to make sure that these systems are robust and secure against people doing things they shouldn't,” he stresses.

O’Dowd makes the point that, historically, security issues could arise if someone in a control room pressed a wrong button. However, he says key concerns today can revolve around someone with a laptop opening the wrong program or plugging in a rogue USB stick, as well as hackers deliberately trying to hold companies to ransom. O’Dowd adds that the ISA/IEC 62443 standards set out to address these security issues, but he believes many UK manufacturing facilities are still rather behind in this topic. “I think it's something that we should try to accelerate,” he says.

Mike Wilson, chief automation officer (technology strategy) at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), maintains that the more we apply automation and connectivity the more security can become a significant issue. Therefore, he believes equipment ideally needs to have effective levels of security built in to avoid unnecessary retrofits further down the line. “I know there are a lot of people working on this, but I don't think we really have the answer sorted yet,” he says. Wilson observes that there are still ways people can bypass systems and get in, maybe via the legacy equipment; old systems that do not have the same security levels as some more modern equipment.

Vaibhav Boricha (Volley), director at cobot integration company Vikaso, also considers that security is something that end-users and integrators cannot ignore. However, he adds that, from the end-user standpoint, security is not a ‘showstopper’ issue; not something that can become the final bottleneck on whether a company pursues an automation project. Boricha makes the point that Vikaso has always found a way to ensure that if there are any vulnerabilities, they can be combatted by putting in the appropriate security measures.

Digital transformation and the increasingly important role of data is the here and now and will increasingly frame our future. However, it is important to ensure the manifold benefits on offer – greater efficiency, accuracy, speed, cost-savings, market competitiveness, company prestige etc. – are not compromised by having a less than robust security methodology in place.

Along with an ongoing focus on state-of-the-art automation and IT, companies need to embrace security as a related top-of-mind discipline going forwards, calling on the best professional support as and when required.

Ed Holden, Editor