Honeywell survey highlights low adoption of industrial cyber security measures

Honeywell through its latest study released on Friday reported that industrial companies are not moving quickly to adopt cyber security measures to protect their data and operations, even as attacks have increased around the globe.

The survey - Putting Industrial Cyber Security at the Top of the CEO Agenda - was conducted by LNS Research and sponsored by Honeywell. It polled 130 strategic decision makers from industrial companies about their approach to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and their use of industrial cyber security technologies and practices.

The survey revealed that more than half of respondents reported working in an industrial facility that already has had a cyber-security breach. Further, it noted that 45 percent of the responding companies still did not have an accountable enterprise leader for cyber security.

The survey also revealed that only 37 percent are monitoring for suspicious behavior. Although many companies are conducting regular risk assessments, 20 percent are not doing them at all.

"Decision makers are more aware of threats and some progress has been made to address them, but this report reinforces that cyber security fundamentals haven't been adopted by a significant portion of the industrial community. In order to take advantage of the tremendous benefits of industrial digital transformation and IIoT, companies must improve their cyber security defenses and adapt to the heightened threat landscape now," said Jeff Zindel, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security.

The study suggests these three immediate actions for any industrial organisation to capture the value of the new technologies:

-Making industrial cyber security part of digital transformation strategies;

-Driving best practice adoption across people, processes and technology, from access controls to risk monitoring, and tap external cyber expertise to fill gaps

-Focusing on empowering leaders and building an organizational structure that breaks down the silos between IT and OT.

"Cyber security needs to be part of every CEO's agenda to ensure the effective, immediate and long-term deployment of strategies and technologies such as IIoT. In short, in order for a business to succeed on its digital transformation journey, it needs to succeed with industrial cyber security," said Matthew Littlefield, president and principal analyst, LNS Research.