Podcasts
PODCAST: How manufacturers can protect themselves from cyberattacks during COVID-19

Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and your factory floors are safe. You’ve followed all of the protocols for physical distancing, sanitization and proper personal protective equipment.

But what about your industrial networks? Are they safe from COVID-19?

Cybercrime is on the rise this year as attackers capitalize on fears associated with the pandemic through email scams, ransomware or malware.

We dig into this phenomenon in the latest episode of Machine Language: The Podcast, which features an interview with Andre Vittorio, president and founder of Idealogical Systems Inc., a Toronto-area IT services provider for manufacturers.

Vittorio discusses the rise in cybercrime during COVID-19, the weakest links in factory networks, the steps manufacturers need to take to make threat detection part of their network architecture, and new technologies that SMEs should be aware of when it comes to cybersecurity.

“Cyber criminals are having a field day right now because everyone is distracted with COVID,” Vittorio says. “Distraction is one of the things that aids cyber criminals, because that’s one of the methods they use to try to get you to do something.”

Gone are the days of when people would ‘kick a door open,’ trying to get into your network by brute force methods. If you think about the doors in your factory, you could put a bunch of locks on, you can put deadbolts, and you have the key – well, cyber criminals are trying to trick you into giving them a copy of the key.”

Listen to the full episode here:

Every month, Machine Language covers the latest technologies and trends in industrial automation for the manufacturing market through interviews with industry experts. Topics are related to automation and machinery, including safety integration, robotics and sensors, motion control, software solutions, Industry 4.0 and the IIoT, cybersecurity and networking, and artificial intelligence.

Find the podcast on MA’s Podcasts page or on Annex Business Media’s site, as well as on Annex Business Media’s SoundCloud and iTunes accounts.

Missed our last episode with Shelley Fellows, chair of Automate Canada, and Mike Bilton, chair of the Canadian Association of Mold Makers about what’s been happening in Ontario’s manufacturing sector as a result of the pandemic? Listen here.

If you have an idea for a Machine Language podcast episode, email host Kristina Urquhart at kurquhart@annexbusinessmedia.com.

Special thanks to our sponsor, Fortinet

This episode of Machine Language: A Manufacturing AUTOMATION Podcast is brought to you by Fortinet, which provides solutions for protection, detection and response to cyber attack from the plant floor to the cloud. Fortinet offers innovation across the entire digital infrastructure, whether in networked, application, multi-cloud or edge environments. For more information, visit www.Fortinet.com/manufacturing. Fortinet – Engineered for Secure Manufacturing.

This article was originally posted on June 23, 2020.