Agenda

As Operational Technology (OT) and the Internet of Things (IoT) become integral components of organizational infrastructures, the cybersecurity landscape expands into uncharted territory. This session is dedicated to unraveling the intricacies of safeguarding against threats in the OT and IoT realms. Explore strategies for protecting critical infrastructure, manufacturing processes, and interconnected devices from evolving cyber threats. Industry experts share insights, case studies, and practical approaches to fortify defenses, emphasizing the unique challenges posed by the convergence of OT and IoT. Join this comprehensive discussion on securing the future of interconnected technologies in the face of emerging cyber risks.

At the operational field, plant, or edge level, growing risks like cybersecurity must be managed amid a need to democratize and expand technology within an increasingly connected workplace. Traditional approaches of handling cyber, analytics, edge, and others as separate IT projects and not addressing these needs as various pieces of a major holistic change effort (including many non-technology aspects) are causing them to fail outright or have poor results. Operational management frameworks are designed to provide consistency and reliability at the field level for various reasons, including safety and environmental priorities, and can create friction with innovative techniques and large-scale change. Culture clashes between OT, IT, and Operations teams and priorities worsen this situation.

It’s important to appreciate how transformative OT cybersecurity programs are in order to integrate those objectives and ways of working into existing frameworks. This also allows cybersecurity teams to take advantage of new models and emerging technology which can accelerate progress. Finding and supporting these solutions is not enough though; companies need to apply a different approach to leading their internal change to overcome resistance and improve engagement.

Building control systems have been around since the late 1970s. These systems were digitally controlled and proprietary. The building staff could run the building, but the logic/programming required the system service provider’s knowledge to maintain. Over time, the building staff’s reliance on the service provider grew to the point that the service provider not only has unrestricted local access but also unrestricted remote access. And in most cases, the service provider provides and controls remote access. When you take this into account and multiply it by the number of building control systems per building, the number of service provider technicians that currently have access, and former employees that possibly have access, and then multiply this by the number of buildings owned, this number can be huge. Now take into consideration that most of the service providers are not bound to cybersecurity service provider agreements. These buildings are a high degree of risk exposure for building owners.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be exposed to the current state of the building control system cybersecurity.
• Participants will be walked through some real-world examples of results when service provider management does not exist and/or breaks down.
• Participants will learn the basic concepts of managing service providers using ISA 62443.

The proliferation of smart products being manufactured is staggering. If you can see it, smell it, touch it, wear it, ride in it, hear it, or…whatever…you can computerize it in some way to improve life, surveil others, provide protection, fix bodies, be entertaining; the list is endless. A lot of thought goes into making “bells and whistles” to make a product useful in some way at a price low enough to motivate purchases, reaping as much profits to the manufacturers and retailers, and/or benefits to those using the product, as possible. The potential for building radical, innovative advancements in transportation, lifestyles, clothing, consumer health, education, safety, environment, technology, recreation, housing, finance, nutrition and communication is exciting! However, what often gets lost in the excitement of the possibilities are the manufacturers’ and retailers’ considerations for, and critical conversations about, the privacy and cybersecurity risks inherent in using these smart devices and associated components. Subsequently, security and privacy controls are not engineered into the full smart products’ components.

This session will explore the multifaceted challenges surrounding privacy and cybersecurity in the era of a world where anything that exists could potentially be a smart product. Rebecca will delve into the intricacies of data collection, transmission, and storage within these technologies, examining the potential vulnerabilities and privacy concerns that arise as consumers surreptitiously become interconnected with their surroundings, and ultimately a wide range of organizations that utilize their collected data in a variety of ways.

Key topics to be addressed include the secure transmission of sensitive personal data, the collection and sharing of personal data by smart products, and the ethical considerations of balancing advancements in consumer products with individual data protection. Real-world use cases will be presented, illustrating both the potential benefits and risks associated with such products as smart automobiles and roadways, smart jewelry, smart travel products and fitness trackers.

Attendees will gain valuable insights into best practices for engineering robust cybersecurity capabilities into such products, ensuring personal data confidentiality, and navigating the evolving regulatory landscape. This session aims to empower manufacturing engineers, technology developers, and policymakers with the knowledge needed to strike a balance between innovation and the protection of consumer privacy in the dynamic and expanding landscape of smart consumer products. Join us for an engaging discussion that paves the way for a secure and ethical future in an increasingly connected world.