New approaches to cybersecurity in industrial environments

Joseph marie jacquard, a 19th-century french weaver and merchant, revolutionized the textile industry after introducing a single variable to his production system. 

It was the year 1804 when jacquard announced a loom that bore his name. While some dismissed the proposal as unorthodox and presumptuous, others were captivated by the novelty, as it introduced punched cards to control the weaving of complex patterns in looms. 

This innovation not only triggered efficiency and production in the textile industry worldwide but is also considered one of the critical pieces that inspired the birth of computer programming. 

Connectivity and automation: inherent cybersecurity risks 

In today’s hectic industrial environment—and in the face of nearshoring—competitiveness, agility, and optimization go far beyond the use of punched cards. But they stem from the same rationale: a solid sense of purpose guided by innovation to make a difference. 

As the foundation and pinnacle of these attributes that accelerate business thinking and operation, cybersecurity unfolds, a definitive component in the strategy that ensures quality, operational integrity, and strategic business continuity. 

However, transforming a company within a connected and automated industrial ecosystem entails very delicate cyber risks that must be deeply considered. 

Traditional information technology (IT) solutions, focused on data and system protection, may not be suitable for the industrial environment, where the priority is to maintain the operability and safety of critical processes. 

The Ikusi industrial protect approach

 

The convergence of information technology and operational technology requires a cybersecurity approach that transcends traditional methods and recognizes current and future industrial demands. 

With this mindset—and to secure the infrastructure of operational technologies (OT) without compromising operation—Ikusi developed Ikusi industrial protect, a suite of solutions and services designed to close any gaps in industrial environments. 

Ikusi industrial protect has the capability to generate mechanisms to simulate components of main systems and virtual sensors in the OT environment to identify unusual access or traffic behaviors that could impact the production line’s operation. 

Additionally, this solution provides full service visibility through Ikusi intelligence, our service portal, which offers a business experience to the end user. 

The integration of leading industrial cybersecurity manufacturers included in our Ikusi industrial protect solution provides inventory visibility, legacy system protection, and, combined with industrial network equipment, offers a comprehensive context of the security status of operating systems, effectively identifying vulnerabilities and risks, ensuring the infrastructure of the industrial environment against advanced threats. 

Thus, we ensure that your priority is to scale your business’s value proposition while providing new layers of intelligent industrial security. 

The approach to ensuring operational continuity

Ensuring operational continuity in an industrial environment represents not only a business factor but also competitiveness and leadership in the sector. 

A cyberattack can freeze production, but it also has the potential to compromise employee safety and cause irreparable damage to the business’s reputation. 

With over 50 years of experience in knowledge development and transformation solutions, Ikusi offers you a range of strategic components to create an industrial strategy exactly as your company requires: 

• We incorporate permanent risk visibility in the industrial network infrastructure. 
• We dramatically reduce exposure time to a risk. 
• We filter the possibilities of breaches with privileged account management solutions for internal and third-party accounts to ensure that only authorized personnel access critical systems. 
• We provide additional layers of protection to legacy systems—usually vulnerable and difficult to update—with virtual patch schemes that provide security without the need to modify existing hardware. 
• We offer security incident response and management from our CSOC at Ikusi Once. 

The approach to cybersecurity as the sum of innovation and adaptation

Jean marie jacquard transformed the textile industry with his programmable loom. This disruptive change involved hypotheses, experiments, and tests that led to the development of an industrial innovation. 

Modern industrial cybersecurity solutions, such as Ikusi industrial protect, aim to transform and protect critical infrastructures with two key ingredients: innovation and adaptability. 

Cybersecurity, far from being understood as an obstacle, represents for ikusi a critical enabler of transformation. With solutions like Ikusi industrial protect, your company will not only be protected against cyber threats but also shielded to ensure operational continuity and scale competitiveness in the market. 

Ikusi is a strategic ally that advises and supports your cybersecurity concerns, offering you a differentiated approach that meets the demands of the most challenging industrial environments. 

We are here to help you, contact us.