Connectivity provides manufacturing plant operations many advantages like increased productivity, faster identification and remediation of quality defects, and better collaboration across functional areas. However, this connectivity is dramatically increasing smart factories’ vulnerabilities and leaving them exposed to cybersecurity threats. In a recent survey by Deloitte and the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, 48% of respondents identified operational risks, which include cybersecurity, as the greatest danger to smart factory initiatives.1
Food and beverage processing plants are under particular assault.