{"id":37537,"date":"2021-11-12T08:44:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T07:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fhi.nl\/nieuws\/connectivity-versus-security-weighing-the-risks\/"},"modified":"2024-07-10T13:37:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T11:37:54","slug":"connectivity-versus-security-weighing-the-risks","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/fhi.nl\/en\/news\/connectivity-versus-security-weighing-the-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Connectivity versus security: weighing the risks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\tConnectivity versus security: weighing the risks\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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Connectivity offers machine builders many advantages, such as the ability to provide more efficient service or even to design data-driven business models. However, any form of connectivity comes with risks and not every end customer is eager for it. That's why you have to make the right trade-offs between risks and benefits.

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Increased demand for connectivity<\/h2>\r\n

In times of downtime, the end customer expectations support as quickly as possible to prevent production stagnation. On the other side, the machine builder is struggling with scarcity of PLC skilled staff, limited expertise and increased demand from customers, while willing to organize service more efficiently. In addition, there is a rising demand for machine data to optimize production processes, offer proactive maintenance or to draw lessons for the next series of cheaper, more stable and more efficient machines. This has led to an increase in connectivity to meet both demands.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\"More\r\nMore and more machines are connected these days<\/em>\r\n\r\n\r\n

Why connect machines to the internet<\/h2>\r\n

There are many reasons why you may want to connect your machines to the internet. The two main reasons are:<\/p>\r\n

Remote service<\/h3>\r\n

Connected machines enable you to access your machines remotely which opens a whole new world. You can monitor and control your machines from anywhere at any time, which enables you to provide faster and more efficient service. This saves you a lot of time and money since your engineers don't have to travel as much as before anymore. At the same time, customer satisfaction will increase significantly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Start\r\nStart with your connecting machines to move towards Industry 4.0 and take the next step to data analysis<\/em>\r\n\r\n\r\n

Data analysis<\/h3>\r\n

Collecting and analyzing your machine data enables you to understand what happens inside your machine. It is crucial information when you want to keep innovating and optimizing your machines. Gain insights about the condition, performance and productivity of your machine, analyze them and create\u00a0new business models<\/a>\u00a0out of it to offer value to your customers and generate recurring revenue.<\/p>\r\n

Sounds good, right? But be aware of the risks involved. You have to connect your machine to the outside world, which increases the risks of cyber attacks. The first step in reducing security risks is\u00a0to be aware of what can happen<\/a>. The second step is to know\u00a0how you can keep your machine secure<\/a>\u00a0during its life cycle. Besides that, you have to determine whether risks are acceptable or not.

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Weighing the risks against the benefits<\/h2>\r\n

As a machine builder, you have to identify the security risks of connectivity so you can look at them objectively and carry out a risk analysis. There are two different risks involved here: technical security risks and business risks.<\/p>\r\n

Technical risks<\/h3>\r\n

What can technically go wrong when I connect my machine to the internet? If the firewall isn't set up strong enough for example, cyber criminals can easily access the factory network. That's something you want to avoid. Therefore it's important to determine how likely a risk is to happen and what the impact will be. To classify there's a special formula which calculates the risk score based on those aspects:\u00a0

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Likelihood x impact = risk score<\/strong>

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Determine how likely a risk is to occur, identify what the impact is, and give a score to both variables. Then you multiply these scores and get a value from this: the risk score. You will calculate this risk score for different scenarios that can arise when using connectivity and sort from highest to lowest score.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Make\r\nMake a risk trade-off and weigh the risks against the benefits<\/em>\r\n\r\n\r\n

You are going to focus on those with the highest score and choose a strategy to deal with it:<\/p>\r\n