Tiaan van Schalkwyk at Deloitte South Africa has sage advice for those that work in the Manufacturing Industry. He suggests the fear we face isn’t “The Rise of the Thinking Machines”, but rather those who might take them over by cybersecurity attacks.
“Manufacturers need to have the peace of mind that the safety, availability, and reliability of all aspects of their systems are nigh on guaranteed. Furthermore, the temptation exists to compromise on the security of some part of the chain in favour of usability. This does place the entire system at risk. But even if this is not the case, it is only a matter of when and not if a manufacturer will be compromised.”
He further goes on to explain,
“In this environment, preventative measures are no longer good enough. Manufacturers need to get ahead of the cyber security challenge and look at ways of being more pro-active. […]
But even before OT (operational technology) security systems are put in place or upgraded, decision-makers need to conduct a cyber-security assessment. This enables them to better understand the threats and also gain insight into what the capabilities of the organisation are when it comes to cyber security.”
If you need help getting started, give us a call. We have experts securing agencies, companies and all sorts of Industrial Control Systems.