Unfolding Cybersecurity Risks in Automotive Industry

#IoT #Industry4.0 #CyberSecurity #OT #IT

Team Pro MFG Media

Pro MFG Media’s Manufacturing Leadership Roundtable presented by Tenable on ‘Closing the Cyber Exposure Gap with OT (Operational Technology) Security’, for the Automotive sector was held on 26th November, 2020 through a virtual platform. Modern-day, manufacturing relies on automation and operations technologies (OT). Although the newest advances in OT have yielded impressive results both in terms of efficiency and cost savings, the risks still prevail.

This year’s event witnessed eminent personalities from the industry and the panel was moderated by Mr. Murali Rao, Partner, Cyber Consulting India, EY India. The Manufacturing Leadership Roundtable saw the presence of esteemed organizations such as Anand Group, Caparo Engineering India, JCB India, Mahindra Automotive and Agriculture, MG Motors India, Premium Transmission, RSB Transmission, and TAFE. The session discussed the latest technologies employed along with the security challenges faced by the organizations.

The session addressed the following key points:

  • ✔ The security issues automotive manufacturing facilities face.
  • ✔ 5 key ways to help secure your environment so that smart manufacturing can also be safe manufacturing.
  • ✔ The critical elements of digitization and how OT as a platform will assist enterprises to operate in a 'zero trust' environment.
  • ✔ Integrating security solutions into the earliest stages of product design risks and opportunities for emerging technologies: smart machines, AI, IoT, and OT.
  • ✔ Potential Data Leakage Threat. If manufacturers don’t find the security holes, they’re leaving themselves behind on the road to innovation.
  • ✔ How to securely adopt remote diagnostic, management, and collaboration tools in OT environments to limit a person-to-person contact.
  • ✔ Difficulty in managing OT environments due to inherent complexities.
  • ✔ Skill Set required for training professionals during the process of OT transformation.

The speakers on the panel precisely covered the topics meticulously and exchanged numerous practices followed by the respective organization to overcome the challenge of cybersecurity.

The moderator, Mr. Murli Rao, Partner, Cyber Consulting Leader, EY India shared an interesting overview on Digitization as well as the significance of cybersecurity, and cited, “As we are moving in the Industrial 4.0, Automation in the Automobile industry is becoming imperative and has penetrated 70% to 80% in the operating system. The numbers speak volumes for the digitization, smart emblement of the factories, and the ability to consume newer technologies. Our enormous appetite has also opened the doors to cyber – threat, hence the cybersecurity and Industrial 4.0 should bolt at the same speed.”

Mr. Umesh Shah, Sr. VP – Manufacturing & Group Head - Planning & Strategy, Anand Group, emphasized creating a sustainable architecture for cybersecurity and stated, "OEMs should be more cognizant about the cyber risk specifications as they interact with the customers. This will enable a sustainable architecture in bringing cybersecurity into the system."

Mr. Vivek Gossain, General Manager - Manufacturing Excellence, MG Motors India, shared the thought-provoking practice followed in MG motors, "We have developed an E- architecture and have introduced gateway modules, which act as mediators to communicate with the telematics box - the critical component, enabling the products to be connected to monitor cybersecurity."

Mr. Ashish Bhatnagar, Vice President – Operations & Plant Head, Premium Transmission, further added to the discussion, "There is a lag between the digital business and cyber visibility, they are essential to be synced proactively."

Mr. Anuragam Vatsa, Unit Head, RSB Transmission, highlighted "Deep convergence of IT and OT has become the need of the hour. Cybersecurity isn't a task but a culture."

Mr. Sanjay Deshmukh, Head of Group – IT, Hyundai Motors, exchanged the effective practice followed at Hyundai Motors, "IT security commences from confidentiality, integrity, and availability. We manage confidential data with access controls and network security."

Mr. Rajeev Chopra, Sr. General Manager - Strategic Sourcing, Supply Chain & Tooling Development, TAFE, highlighted an essential aspect, "Integrating software with the supply partners and regularly auditing their systems is important. Also, we focus on a quick recovery program which enables assessment of risks in the system."

The Manufacturing Leadership Roundtable 2020 addressed critical issues on cybersecurity and concluded with several valuable insights shared by the dignified personalities from the automobile industry.

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