The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is revolutionizing the way manufacturing is done by connecting more smart devices and sharing the information they produce to improve existing business models and enable new ones. Nowhere is this more evident than in the industrial arena, where experts estimate the economic impact of the IIoT to reach $11.1 trillion by the year 2025.

Do you require VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) cable for on-machine applications, where it will be in constant motion? Or what about needing it for installation in tight spaces? Up-to-now, these situations have been hard to address. On the one hand, construction-grade VFD and standard THHN building wire or tray cable do not provide adequate VFD system protection or the pliability needed. On the other hand, high performance Belden VFD cable has not had the extreme flexibility needed.

A common best practice in any field is to benchmark performance or results against industry norms. In the case of industrial control systems (ICS), security breach benchmarking is a challenge.

It’s not surprising that Ethernet has migrated from office environments to industrial environments. After all, the use of open, standards-based communication technology has made it easy to connect the plant floor to enterprise systems resulting in many business benefits. And, the adoption of common computing and networking platforms has reduced costs such as network maintenance, administration and labor expenses.

Two things that make ICS cybersecurity different from IT security are the use of industrial-specific protocols like DNP3 and the common usage of endpoints like PLCs, IEDs and RTUs that are 15+ years old. Both of these factors are significant in industries that depend on WAN communication networks, such as power, water/wastewater, transportation plus oil and gas systems.