Without cybersecurity, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) isn’t going anywhere. Manufacturers must be confident that their applications and data are protected before they'll adopt Internet protocol (IP) networking, virtualized computing, cloud-based services and other IIoT tools on their plant floors—and do it in numbers in large enough to bring IIoT into the industrial mainstream.
Meanwhile, industrial companies continue to pursue business practices that further increase the need for cybersecurity, including unmanned operations and remote workforces, big-data infrastructures, integrated networking and data sharing with other companies, mobile applications and wireless. "All of them can be thresholds to greater vulnerability," said Jeff Melrose, senior principal technology strategist for cybersecurity at Yokogawa Corp. of America, in his session opening comments at Smart Industry 2015.