From: Packaging World
What is the cyber landscape for Consumer Packaged Goods companies? How great is the risk of getting hacked? Maybe it’s time we took a closer look at cyber security.
By Keith Campbell, Contributing Editor
Plant floor cyber security is among today’s most serious threats facing our individual manufacturing enterprises and our collective national security. Yet the potential of the Internet to radically and constructively transform our businesses is undeniable. The key will be to strike appropriate balances between security and productivity and between risk and revenue streams. The decisions to be made in this regard are C-suite decisions, to be overseen by boards of directors. As engineers and managers, if we are to be recognized in the C-suite of our company, it had best be as part of the solution and not as the cause of the problem. We cannot allow the hype over the industrial Internet of things (IIoT) to lure us into positions of vulnerability. We must be certain that plant floor cyber security has been adequately addressed, before we do anything that may expose our operations.
This two-part article is not intended as a how-to guide, but rather a why-should guide. This month we will dig deeply into why should a reader of Packaging World—whether a packager, an equipment supplier, or a material supplier—be actively engaged in cyber security discussions at the highest levels of their company? Why should educators, professional organizations, lobbyists and others who work with these industries be part of the discussion? Next month we will suggest some of the areas that should be considered, some strategies that could be employed, and some resources that can be drawn upon in the process of turning discussions into action.
The cyber landscape for CPGs
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