Industrial companies are not moving quickly to adopt cyber security measures to protect their data and operations, even as attacks have increased, says a multi-national product manufacturer.
The survey – Putting Industrial Cyber Security at the Top of the CEO Agenda – was by LNS Research and sponsored by Honeywell. It polled 130 decision makers from industrial companies about their approach to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and their use of industrial cyber security. Among the findings were:
– More than half of respondents reported working in an industrial facility that already has had a cyber security breach.
– 45pc of the responding companies still do not have an accountable enterprise leader for cyber security.
– Only 37pc are monitoring for suspicious behaviour.
– Although many companies are conducting regular risk assessments, 20pc are not doing them at all.
Jeff Zindel, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security said: “Decision makers are more aware of threats and some progress has been made to address them, but this report reinforces that cyber security fundamentals haven’t been adopted by a significant portion of the industrial community. In order to take advantage of the tremendous benefits of industrial digital transformation and IIoT, companies must improve their cyber security defenses and adapt to the heightened threat landscape now.”
The study suggests these three immediate actions for any industrial firm to capture the value of the new technologies:
1. Making industrial cyber security part of digital transformation strategies;
2. Driving best practice adoption across people, processes and technology, from access controls to risk monitoring, and tap external cyber expertise to fill gaps
3. Focusing on empowering leaders and building an organizational structure that breaks down the silos between IT and OT.
And Matthew Littlefield, president and principal analyst, LNS Research said: “Cyber security needs to be part of every CEO’s agenda to ensure the effective, immediate and long-term deployment of strategies and technologies such as IIoT. In short, in order for a business to succeed on its digital transformation journey, it needs to succeed with industrial cyber security.”
Visit www.becybersecure.com and https://hwll.co/uhrgs.
