An attack on a firm can result in loss of goods, unscheduled downtime, employee safety hazards, loss of sensitive and/or proprietary information, and, in most cases, adverse public perception. As a result, businesses must identify potential risks, understand their vulnerabilities, and prioritize risk mitigation strategies to help manage cyber security risks.
Vulnerabilities grow as businesses become more interconnected and reliant on the internet, and risks multiply. Cyber threats, particularly ransomware and data breaches, are becoming more common among manufacturers and producers.
Business managers and engineers recognize the importance of cyber security when it comes to distributed control systems (DCS). However, creating secure passwords and applying software updates and patches is not enough. Cyber security for a process system can affect multiple systems or sectors of an operation, including, but not limited to, controllers, networking, HMIs, sophisticated analytics, and people.
Securing a system can be a difficult task, but there are several widely understood countermeasures that can help improve the security posture. Expanding Automated Business Connections enables unprecedented visibility into systems, resulting in advanced analytics and data that can help improve operations, build efficiency, and boost profitability. However, this connectivity can leave systems open to attacks and make them vulnerable.
Full Article: Top 3 Significant Barriers to Monitoring and Minimizing DCS Cybersecurity Risk