Practical IIoT and Wireless Network Practices for Modern Mining

Protecting the IIoT environment is only possible by minimizing IIoT vulnerabilities and reducing potential risks. Cybersecurity is not just a technology challenge. It is also a business issue that must be addressed comprehensively through people, processes and technology. Every organization should consider following the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Security Framework. This framework provides guidance on balancing the effort to mitigate risks and provides processes where previously none existed. 

Considering standards

Automation, IIoT, and wireless technologies are fundamental to current mining and metals companies. These technologies are evolving quickly, producing an exciting time of growth in data collection and data sharing, expanding capability, increasing efficiency, and supporting sustainability. At the same time, it is important to ensure strong cybersecurity controls and governance to keep functionality in place, safely. Companies can increase production and reduce costs through the deployment of connected technologies, but they can also lose significant value due to cyberattacks. 

At first view, smaller companies seem less vulnerable to cyberrisks. They have lower profiles. However, they also have smaller budgets for protection and less to work with when it comes to the increasingly complex capability areas that cannot be fully performed through contractors. This is where standards can help ensure best-practice implementation of technology and cybersecurity protections at reduced cost.

Some internal function needs to exist for setting and auditing the best practices supporting mining and metals companies of the future. Our companies are continuously evolving their autonomous processes across the supply chain, supported by IIoT and sound cybersecurity practices. Simple steps like network segregation and training can provide additional protection.

We in ISA MMID believe it is worth sharing some of our experiences to motivate members using the standards ISA offers in this space (Figure 2). From our personal experience, we believe we need to find the balance between production gains, risk exposure, and implementation cost. This can be tricky, but with a regular inventory of the risks and some good cybersecurity practices and related frameworks, most companies can solve these challenges.

ISA’s Mining & Metals Division

The Mining & Metals Industries Division (MMID) is one of ISA’s technical divisions. It focuses on leveraging automation functionality and technology solutions to enhance mining processes and metal production.

Who is best served by this division? Professionals concerned with economically and environmentally sound practices related to the extraction of metal ores, coal, cement, sand, gravel, and other minerals—and the handling, separation, processing, fabrication, related processes, and research and development for the production of finished mineral or metal products. The division also covers the iron and steelmaking industries, aluminum processing and other light metals, and the production and manufacturing of metals products. Find out more by visiting the division’s page on ISA Connect.