Learn about the threats cybercrime present, and the measures taken to mitigate these impacting your automation system, in our latest blog by Niels Tiemessen.
Despite the many benefits of introducing process automation solutions at industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), a concern that always comes up during the initiation of any new digital project is around cyber security. Continuing in our series of articles about advanced process control (APC) solutions for industrial WWTP, Niels Tiemessen, product expert and business developer at Royal HaskoningDHV, takes a look at cybersecurity and plant safety with regards to system hacking.
Any industrial or municipal WWTP, or any other asset that is connected to a network, can be subject to threats from cybercrime, with tremendous potential damages, especially when local control is compromised. The most obvious solution to eliminate any type of remote risk is to have a local control system (SCADA/DCS) that is not reachable through the internet. However, with more businesses enabling remote working, especially since Covid, and also not wanting to have to staff the control room outside of office hours, this is not an option anymore.
You only need to look at the Wikipedia page of Cybersecurity, to see that the list of threats and defenses is rather overwhelming, requires expert knowledge and would be impossible to cover in a short blog. To gain a more detailed insight on our view on this matter, please read our Whitepaper on managing cybersecurity.
While cybersecurity measures need to ensure that an organisation stays safe from malicious intentions, this doesn’t automatically mean that the software itself is safe and robust to use.