TechHub: Industrial cybersecurity, $1 billion fund for advanced manufacturing & mobilizing the plant floor

Market Analysis Report Evaluates Industrial Cyber Security

Cyber security has become a globally recognized issue of national security for industrial companies in light of increased attacks on water and power utilities.

Complex ransomware attacks are becoming more common among industrial companies, resulting in one of the top annual cyber conferences promoting it as a focus.

The RSA 2017 Conference started off with a group of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a planned water utility hack, demonstrating how much damage a hacker can do by shutting down valves, adjust chlorine levels and falsify readings.

The RSA 2017 Conference, which featured a live industrial utility hack demonstration.

ARC Advisory Group released a market analysis report that evaluates the current market, as well as a five year market and technology forecast, for industrial cyber security.

Even after a heavy push for protection in recent years, many industrial companies are still struggling to maintain plant security despite having implemented cyber security technologies for protection.

The report cites a lack of resources and lack of cyber security expertise as the key reasons for the insecurity, and that the IT companies the plants use lack a deep understanding of control systems for plant operation.

Industrial companies need to implement the expertise of operational technology professionals that can lock down exposed parts of the network.

Download the GrayMatter Cyber Security Guide for Operational Technology to get a comprehensive understanding of security in the OT world including top vulnerabilities.

The guide walks you through the first steps in knowing what’s on your network and has specific advice about the assessment process from our top cyber security consultants.

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Mobilizing the Plant Floor: Industry 4.0

As we get deeper into the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, plants are becoming digitized and integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT) for faster, better results.

Junot Systems, a specialist provider of integration solutions for industrial companies, released a case study detailing a real customer success story of mobilizing their plant floor for one of the world’s largest producers of printing inks and pigments.

The plant was facing problems such as lacking an audit trail to identify changes to material batches, loose user procedures for necessary validations, lack of mobility on the plant floor and unnecessary manual aspects of order processing.

By implementing NLINK®, Junot Systems’ quick install product suite and SAP certified interfaces, plant floor technicians were given the ability to process orders away from the HMI stations using mobile tablets with each step validated and logged for full traceability.

For a more in-depth look into the validation process in SAP that NLINK® provides, download the case study:

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$1 Billion Fund to Create Advanced U.S. Manufacturing Jobs

80-percent of U.S. manufacturers are facing a shortage of qualified applicants for skilled production jobs, with a decline in employment within computer and electronic manufacturing since 2007.

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Source: TechCrunch (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

There is an extreme need to close the skills gap within the manufacturing industry, which makes up nine-percent of the U.S. workforce.

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced this week that the company has formed a $1 billion fund to promote advanced manufacturing jobs in the U.S., according to TechCrunch.

The first investments will be announced later this month, according to Cook, leaving the specific use for the funds a mystery for now.