Chemical Engineering April 2021 - 12

Newsfront
Cybersecurity: Continuous
Vigilance Required
As digitalization becomes more common and remote operations become necessary, guarding
against cybersecurity breaches grows even more critical
T
he hacking of a Florida water plant, which made
headlines in February, was a poignant reminder
of the dangers posed by breaches of cybersecurity.
Although the incident was discovered before
real harm could occur, it highlights the importance of due
vigilance when it comes to the security of IT (information
technology) and OT (operational technology) of plants in
the chemical process industries (CPI).
Threats are always there
" The [CPI] face increasing and more sophisticated cybersecurity
threats, " says Michael Lester, director of
cybersecurity strategy, governance and architecture at
Emerson (St. Louis, Mo.; www.emerson.com). " Attacks
are constantly evolving, as commoditized malware and
advanced technologies provide new capabilities to threat
actors. The motivation is still mostly financial gain, but
nation state actors are increasingly involved and there
are increasing numbers of attacks targeting the industrial
control space from various threat actors, " he says.
" Smaller chemical facilities often have older 'patchwork'
automation systems that increases vulnerability
compounded by a lack of resources to routinely assess
and strengthen their cybersecurity, " Lester says.
" Recent attacks are a reminder that regardless of size,
industry or location, all facilities need to be aggressive
about cybersecurity. "
" Cyber-threats to industrial organizations will continue
to increase, in both volume and sophistication, " echoes
Donovan Tindill, senior cybersecurity strategist at Honeywell
Process Solutions (Houston; www.honeywellprocess.com).
" We've reached a point where cyberattacks
are not a question of if, but rather of when and
what could be done to prevent that attack or minimize
its harm. If you own or manage an OT-based operation,
the time to take action and prepare your network
is now, " he says.
IIoT increases vulnerability
Maintaining a competitive edge means leveraging the
industrial internet of things (IIoT) technologies, says Emerson's
Lester. " More connections mean more potential
vulnerabilities - and organizations need to prioritize cybersecurity
equally alongside their IIoT and digital transformation
initiatives, " he says.
Honeywell's Tindill would agree. " The growth in the
number of sensors or cloud connectivity increases the
scope of cybersecurity, the attack footprint and the
exposure as the number of cyber assets requiring cybersecurity
protection and detection increases, " says
Tindill. " The objective
of robust cybersecurity
management is to
protect the increasing
count of cyber assets
with basic cyber hygiene,
such as strong
remote access, electronic
security perimeter,
patching, monitoring,
and incident
response to ensure
it is not more vulnerable, "
he says.
PAS Global
FIGURE 1. Discovering and remediating vulnerabilities in OT is complex
12
" In our experience,
it is necessary to audit
cybersecurity at least
once per year and remediate
all risks that
exceed the tolerance
level for that organizaCHEMICAL
ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
APRIL 2021
http://www.honeywell http://www.process.com http://www.emerson.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering April 2021
