While most of you probably have heard of Internet of Things (IoT), some of you probably also have heard about identity of things – not least as we at Nexus have been developing services related to it in the last few years.
But just as you thought you knew all the important “X of things,” we will introduce an additional term that you need to know, especially if you are working in the industrial sector. Brace yourself for the industrial internet of things (IIoT), or what the Germans call industry 4.0. Regardless of what you call it, it means that industrial equipment is getting more connected.
This brings a lot of opportunities, but also some challenges, especially when it comes to security. By connecting industrial environments to networks, be it corporate networks or even the internet, you can get better productivity, performance, and maintenance.
But this also opens you up to breaches and theft of information. For example, a German iron plant was the victim of a cyberattack last year, and the hackers got in control of equipment on the production floor and were able to create physical destruction. Part of the operations had to be closed down due to the attack.
20 percent increase last year
Only a few weeks ago another industrial company, this time American, accused the Chinese of stealing sensitive information from their production line. The information enabled the hackers to copy the production, and having your production methods stolen could mean huge financial losses, both in the short and the long term.
And these companies were not alone. Statistics from American authorities show that cyberattacks on the industrial sector in the US increased 20 percent last year.
Industrial companies need to act proactively on this issue. You need to align physical plant security with digital and network security. You need to keep sensitive equipment in a guarded physical environment. You need to control digital access roles on everything from production line terminals to the management’s mobile phones.
Not the last “X of things”
The development in the IoT related areas is very fast paced, and we at Nexus work together with innovative companies to develop new types of services that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. We support mobile operators in different countries to effectively use connected parts and identities in all parts of their networks. For instance, they can use Nexus’ technology to enable base stations from different suppliers to work together and communicate, while having secure identities. Another example is IoT software and services company Greenwave Systems, which you can read more about here.
Nexus understood the intersection between physical and digital security a long time ago, and is a leader in this field. While we cannot promise that industrial internet of things is the last “X of things,” we will bring your attention to it on this blog. We can promise to help you get the right solutions in place, so you can start to take real advantage of the tremendous opportunities that come with the industrial internet of things.