PepsiCo faced a dilemma about three years ago when its access control software provider announced “end of life” for its legacy security software, potentially leaving more than 300 PepsiCo locations in the lurch for an access control system. What to do?

A recent statement from U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber+Infrastructure’s (CISA) National Cyber Awareness System noted that the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has updated its “Essential Eight Maturity Model.” Though all this sounds like alphabet soup or bureaucratic gobble-de-gook, the Maturity Model consists of eight important mitigation strategies you should be employing to protect your computing systems.

It’s ironic that the Jeff Bezos, Amazon chief executive, who heads up one of the most cyber-secure cloud architectures in the world, had his own very private data hacked and used against him. But his sloppiness about personal security provides a warning message for us all. That is, we can build the most secure, impossible-to-hack network systems, but they can’t protect us from our own stupidity—sharing very personal data over systems that aren’t so private.

Smart phones can be an asset on the plant floor, letting operators look at current plant data and make intelligent decisions. But, should personal devices be checked at the door, and are they a potential risk for cyberattacks?

We know ransomware can wipe out a business—maybe not so much from the cost of paying the ransom, but from the downtime it causes—so don’t get caught without a backup. I asked the experts whether a processor should pay the ransom, and while the responses were mixed, the moral of the story is: Have a backup!

The Department of Homeland Security National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) and the FBI have issued an activity alert to inform all computer network system operators about SamSam ransomware—aka MSIL/Samas.A. This malware has been in circulation for some time and continues to inflict damage to systems.

Rockwell Automation has announced new industrial control products to include CIP Security.