Cybersecurity and Digitalization: A Cautionary Tale

Recognizing that the industry does not adjust well to change, but knowing change is inevitable, collaboration is improving and new technologies are evolving to improve secuity. “Based on what I have observed, the influx of new technology in the cybersecurity industry is truly remarkable, especially with the explosion of artificial intelligence applications,” Chowdhury said. “I would not be surprised if roles like tier-one SOC [security operation center] analyst become completely automated by AI soon. It is nearly impossible for a human to efficiently sort through the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of logs generated in a modern infrastructure. Additionally, I have noticed a rise in automated penetration testing tools that allow organizations to continuously test their security controls.”
 

Investing in AI, cloud

Chowdhury said the cybersecurity industry faces “a significant gap” between the number of available jobs and the qualified professionals needed to fill them. “Although schools are working hard to educate the next generation of cybersecurity experts, the lack of real-world scenario experience remains a significant challenge. This is why I see companies investing heavily in AI to bridge this gap and enhance their cybersecurity defenses.”

In more digitalized environments, cloud computing also is becoming a bigger element—something industry wags never thought would happen. “Strategic planning and adopting cloud solutions are essential in modern cybersecurity strategies,” Chowdhury said. “The cloud offers scalability and flexibility, which can enhance security measures. However, careful planning is necessary to integrate these technologies effectively, ensuring they complement existing security frameworks. By balancing foundational practices with innovative tools, organizations can build a resilient and adaptable defense against cyber threats coming from an expanded attack surface.”

As the threat landscape in the digital world constantly evolves, it is making it increasingly challenging for organizations.

With an expanded attack surface through increased connectivity, it can be a very daunting task to protect a network with all these connections. But with more demand to produce more and more product, understanding what production is doing and how to increase productivity is important.

Digital technology advances are continuing to move forward and the key to avoiding any kind of setback is a strong cybersecurity component acting as the backbone for a manufacturing enterprise.
 

People and process are key to digitalization

With 75 million baby boomers retiring from their manufacturing jobs in such a short time, the industry is facing a large demographic twist. It may seem like the industry will become more reliant on technology, but the tried-and-true cybersecurity triad of people, processes and technology will become even more pronounced in the coming years.

While some in the industry fear digital transformation will eliminate workers, others say people will become the most important asset. As technology innovation continues to grow and become smarter and more developed, it is also there to support and empower both people and processes. With that in mind, the following are some best practices to ensure a more secure digital environment:

• Gain a strong grasp of basic cybersecurity fundamentals.

• Communicate constantly.

• Secure remote access.

• Network segmentation.

• Constantly back up data.

• Implement a security framework.

• Create a culture of collaboration with purpose-built OT and IT views to help address cybersecurity issues via different views and preferences.

• Understand what is talking to what through continuous and real-time monitoring of asset and network connectivity with immediate alerts on any violation of security policies or anomalies.

• Ensure visibility into ICS assets and networks, employing smart and advanced discovery techniques for complete asset inventory.

• Visualize network topology and connectivity to provide a real-time view.

• Predefine policies incorporating requirements in regulatory standards.

• AI algorithms for auto-defining comprehensive security policies and proactively identifying a variety of threats and vulnerabilities.

• This feature originally appeared in AUTOMATION 2024: 1st Annual OT Cybersecurity Trends Report.