There is an elephant in the industrial infrastructure control room. Much of the equipment within our US critical infrastructure sectors is at risk of aging out, needing replacement or upgrade, yet still in production use. When upgrading to state-of-the-art technology, water and wastewater treatment plants have to assess legacy systems and also project needs for the next 10, 20 or even 30 years. This requires the use of future-proof infrastructure components flexible enough to adapt to network changes or growth.

Self-described “Mr. Potatohead,” aka Sean McBride, gave a keynote address on Thursday, October 13, 2016 in Orlando, Florida at Belden’s annual Industrial Ethernet Infrastructure Design Seminar (IEIDS).

Risks to the control levels of industrial networks have been on the rise – and yet many are not aware of the many vulnerabilities and weaknesses these environments have. The SANS 2016 State of ICS Security Survey indicates this is a growing concern of those surveyed.

The SANS 2016 State of ICS Security Survey Report indicates that many of the ICS professionals who responded to the survey have new job titles such as ICS cyber security program manager, ICS security project manager, IT/OT architect and director of cyber security for building and facilities systems.

It’s not a surprise that ensuring the reliability and availability of control systems is the number one business driver for securing industrial automation systems. It was confirmed in the SANS 2016 State of ICS Security Survey. Other top reasons for wanting to improve security include lowering risk, ensuring employee safety, meeting regulatory compliance and preventing damage to systems.