With the recent spate of cyber attacks on industrial control and automation systems around the world, industrial cybersecurity has become critical to maintain operations and prevent unwanted incidents, that could not only disrupt operations, but also potentially cause mishaps and disasters.
To understand how to secure industrial automation, control and safety systems from cyber threats, many engineers working in industries, as well as IT security auditors and consultants, who have the responsibility of securing industrial systems have started taking the Abhisam Industrial Cybersecurity course.
This demand led Abhisam Industrial Cybersecurity course to become one of the most popular options out there. The course covers everything about ICS Security in detail and also includes an exam and certification.
Why is the focus now on industrial cybersecurity?
In the year 2021 itself, until now, there were several reported cyber attacks on critical industrial infrastructure.
Some of the most infamous ones were the Colonial Pipeline attack, that crippled the company’s operations and led to widespread shortages of gasoline and diesel all along the East Coast for several days.
The company’s pipeline SCADA had to be shut down, due to the ransomware attack and it took several days, even after paying out a hefty ransom, to get operations going again.
Another example, was the recent cyber attack on meat processing company JBS that led to many of its plants having to shut down.
Prior to that was the Oldsmar water treatment plant cyber attack, which could have resulted in the water supply of the city of Oldsmar, FL from being poisoned due to excess addition of water treatment chemicals.
The hack was noticed by an alert plant operator and hence a disaster was averted.
Why are Industrial facilities vulnerable to cyber attacks?
Many industrial facilities have Control, Automation or Safety Systems that have been designed and installed decades ago, when security was not a major concern.
They could be DCS (Distributed Control Systems) based control systems, PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) based systems or SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems).
All these systems, collectively known as IACS (Industrial Automation and Control Systems) are vulnerable to all kinds of hackers, cyber criminals and other elements, unless they are properly configured and protected, using international standards such as IEC 62443 or the NIST guidelines.
Why should engineers take industrial cybersecurity training?
It is essential learning for not only Automation & Control System engineers, but also IT security professionals, to take Industrial Cybersecurity training, because very soon employers will require that only staff who are knowledgeable and certified in Industrial Cybersecurity can work with these systems.
Knowledge about ICS security is a great addition to IT security auditors and other similar professionals too.
How can I take this industrial cybersecurity training?
You can take this Industrial Cybersecurity training by enrolling in the Abhisam Industrial Cybersecurity course at https://www.abhisam.com.
The course covers everything that you need to know about securing not only the Industrial Control and Automation Systems from cyberattacks, but also the connected assets.
Remember that these are cyber-physical systems and these Industrial Automation and Control Systems control real plant equipment such as valves, motors, dampers and other machinery.
Any attack on these systems could not only make the manufacturing plant inoperable, but could also cause a disaster, in case the equipment runs erratically.
At the end of the course you can take the associated exam and get certified as an Industrial Cybersecurity professional. This opens up many career opportunities.
Where can I find more information?
You can refer to several free white papers, podcasts and reports available at the Abhisam website on Industrial Cybersecurity and related topics.
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