At the last technology evening, Rob Wright from RJ Connect presented on the topic: ‘Ramp up your network security’, where he explored and highlighted the risks to industrial processes due to inadequate network security. With the rapid development, advancement and acceptance of technology globally, such as the IIoT, more devices are brought online. This scenario, if unmanaged, exposes processes to cyber threats and attacks.
Mike Banda (right) thanks Robert Wright for the presentation.
With cybercrime becoming more destructive, companies who are not adequately protected are suffering the costly consequences. Cyber attacks severely compromise the reliability, availability and security of industrial control systems. As such, appropriate countermeasures need to be adopted to mitigate these risks and attacks.
It is becoming a growing requirement that vendors, users, and system integrators prove that their network devices comply with the security requirements as defined in the IEC 62443-4-2 Level 2 standard. Networks need to be protected against unauthorised access, unencrypted key data, incomplete event logs, unsecure data transmission and human setting errors.
It is vital to monitor and evaluate potential risks, and to ensure prevention against intrusion and attacks to protect sensitive data. Security events must be audited with a user-friendly security management system. Continuous monitoring of the network is also critical.
The branch would like to thank Rob for his informative presentation, which was well attended and received.
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