Keeping your system safe from cybercrime

An age of connectivity

Naturally, the more a company grows, the bigger the target it is for criminals and the more likelihood there is of a cyberattack. Suffice to say that critical infrastructure sectors such as aviation, logistics and food distribution, are of great interest to cyber criminals.

We’re all used to seeing stories in the news about large, reputable companies being targeted and exposed through their lack of IT or OT infrastructure protection, with eye-watering ransomware demands, customer datasets stolen and some businesses literally grinding to a halt.

We live in an age where just about everything is ‘networked’ in some way, from the way we stream music and films, book travel, or fulfil our banking requirements. Even the cars we drive are increasingly packed with ‘connectivity’ features, in addition to ‘old-school’ mechanical components.

It’s the same with a material handling system (MHS) and gone are the days when they comprised only metal and rubber components. The huge advances in automation and digitalisation means that our state-of-the-art systems can be configured to different requirements; however, this cycle of continuous improvement doesn’t come without increased risk profiles.

A constant battle

We need to extract a high volume of data from our systems, which also need to be tested, updated and serviced remotely. With more interconnectivity than ever, a constant battle is being fought behind the scenes against cyber criminals – or even state-sponsored cybercrime – to keep cybersecurity levels as high as possible.

We’re not exaggerating when we tell you that systems all over the world receive hundreds of attacks per day from criminals looking for any hint of vulnerability. You only need to look at web-based live threat maps (eg https://cybermap.kaspersky.com/ or https://www.digitalattackmap.com/) where you can monitor cyberattacks in real-time – it’s like watching a war movie with rockets flying everywhere!

For us, cybercrime is like the mythical hydra we all learned about at school – no matter how many heads you chop off, new ones will grow! This is why our cybersecurity teams at Vanderlande are continually developing services that address software risks and vulnerabilities, with the aim of keeping us and our customers one step ahead.

Taking action

Vanderlande is striving for zero downtime for its customers, which is why we are introducing a package of cybersecurity services. These will help to safeguard your business operations against cybercrime. The first thing we will offer is a comprehensive vulnerability scan to identify any potential security risks in your system, with follow-up guidance on how to eliminate them.

This will provide useful insights into the cybersecurity status of your MHS, how to improve it and what measures you may need to take to reduce the threat of unplanned downtime related to a cybersecurity incident. Our recommended action plan could include security patching and hardening measures, as well as adjustments to authorisation (schemas).

Our trained engineers can conduct these inspections either during or outside of operational hours, depending on the type and size of MHS and its operational condition. It won’t take us long to present our findings, make our recommendations and implement any agreed improvements.

Protecting your assets

We believe that at some point in the future, there will be regulatory pressure to ensure that these kinds of checks become mandatory and are performed on a frequent basis, especially with regard to critical infrastructure such as air traffic, and the storage and distribution of food.

But until this happens, we are committed to ensuring that your MHS performs to the highest-possible standard and can provide you with the protection you need right now.