Unfortunately, however, that is not where the challenges end. With increased connectivity comes increased vulnerability to cyber attack. This so-called ‘Cyber vulnerability’ is a major barrier to business and growth, bringing with it the potential for loss of data, theft of capital and intellectual property, disruption to business and impact on trading reputation.
Of course, to many of you reading this, this may not seem much of a threat. However, manufacturing is a significant target for cyber criminals. In fact it is the third most targeted sector for attack after government systems and finance. And, as adoption of Industry 4.0 grows, so will its vulnerability.
Many businesses are now investigating and adopting Industry 4.0-related technologies. What is crucial, however, is to ensure that they do not at the same time open themselves up to attack. Sometimes, it takes a major attack before industry takes threats like these seriously. In this case, however, the threat may be too great to risk not acting now.