Universities and collaborators work to prevent cyberattacks on manufacturers
Feb. 16, 2022
Smaller manufacturers are less inclined to follow best practices needed to quickly isolate and mitigate potential threats.
As part of the SecureAmerica Institute (SAI) nationwide initiative to empower US manufacturing enterprises, SAI and partners at North Carolina State University (NC State) and Airgap Inc. are developing technology to resist attacks, detect attacks in progress, and ensure an IT/OT system can automatically restore itself to a trusted state.
“Most of the manufacturing in the US happens in small and medium-size firms, making them an ideal target,” said Rob Gorham, SAI’s executive director. “Manufacturing equipment is expensive, and many smaller manufacturers have limited resources when it comes to technical expertise and budget,” added Dr. Munindar Singh, alumni distinguished graduate professor in NC States’s computer science department. “This means their networks are not always following the best practices needed to quickly isolate and mitigate potential threats.”
Abhi Muthiyan, architect of Airgap Inc. said that malware and ransomware can easily penetrate an entire system. “We are trying to prevent entire manufacturing plants from shutting down due to attacks and help them recover swiftly. Our isolation methods retain local backup copies, which enable recovery in hours, as compared to recovery in days for cloud backups.”
