4 Reasons Why Cyber Security is Important for Industries

The evolution of technology and associated gadgets and devices has offered numerous benefits to different industries. However, the evolution of technology has also caused a rise in cybercrime cases among various industries and even among personal users.

Cybercrime entails any criminal activity done through the use of computing devices. In cybercrimes, computers serve as the attacking tool in targeted cybercrimes on unsuspecting industries. They can also be the criminal’s target.

Businesses and industries are advised to set up and implement cybersecurity measures and ensure they are protected. Operational technology (OT) cybersecurity is used by many businesses and industries. It helps secure their operational technology infrastructure from cyberattacks. It also helps secure business data and the users. If you are not conversant with OT cybersecurity, going through an online guide for OT cybersecurity will help you get up to speed.

While the rampant adoption of cybersecurity measures by industries is well-understood by many, most people still do not know the reasons why. It is vital to understand the reasons why cyber security is a must-have for industries. Knowing the reasons helps one understand the various security risks available in industries. It is also necessary for knowing the respective security measures for various cybersecurity risks.

This article discusses the various reasons why cybersecurity is important for industries.

• Client Trust

In recent years, cases of industries getting hacked and their client data getting stolen have increased. In the year 2022, there were 4100 data breaches that were publicly disclosed. The number of data breaches equates to about 22 billion data records that were stolen.

In many cases, clients whose data is stolen during data breaches often have personal accounts hacked, and in extreme cases, their money is stolen. This has caused the emergence of fear and negative perception toward industries that have had data breaches. In some data breach cases, the loss of client data is enough to completely ruin an industry’s reputation, causing a loss in clients.

Industries keen on ensuring their clients trust them with their data put up robust cyber security measures. The lack of cybersecurity measures instills fear in the clients. It also makes the clients lack trust in the industry’s ability to secure their confidential data.

Industries must embrace cybersecurity to gain and retain client trust and reputation. 

• IoT Interconnection

The evolution of technology has also changed the equipment used in industries. Various industry equipment are linked via networks. The linking of devices via networks is referred to as the Internet of Things. The interconnection of the different equipment offers numerous advantages, such as remote equipment monitoring. However, it also exposes the equipment to possible manipulation by hackers via cybersecurity attacks.

In this generation, it is paramount for industries to embrace interconnected manufacturing equipment. Failing to embrace internet-enabled machines sets up a business for failure. This is because internet-enabled equipment help in streamlining manufacturing processes and reduces costs.

When an industry uses internet-enabled equipment, it must upscale its cybersecurity efforts. This helps ensure that all IoT devices used by the industry are safe from cyber-attacks. 

Some of the common cyber attacks on IoT devices in manufacturing include denial of service attacks, device hijacking, data siphoning, etc. Such attacks can significantly affect an industry’s workflow and, in turn, ruin business revenues.

• Stakeholder Confidence

Every industry has its stakeholders. Industry stakeholders are people, organizations, or groups with an interest in business functions. In most cases, stakeholders are financial investors who expect the industry to be run well so they can make profitable returns from their investments. 

Stakeholders are vital for any industry to ensure they have enough financing to run their services. If stakeholders are not impressed with how an industry is run, they will pull out. When stakeholders pull out of a business, they sell their company shares to regain their money. This causes an overall decrease in the value of the industry.

The withdrawal of stakeholders is among the riskiest things that can happen to an industry. It is, therefore, vital for industries to ensure what they do impresses the stakeholders and ascertains their confidence in the company.

In this era of an increased number of cyber attacks on industries that target operational equipment, embracing cyber security is important. Industries that have not embraced cyber security easily instill a sense of fear and lack of confidence. Once fear is instilled into the stakeholders, they lose their confidence in the industry and oftentimes end up pulling out.

You ought to ensure that cyber security measures are implemented in all operational sectors of the industry to gain stakeholder confidence.

• Protection of Sensitive Information

In industries, a lot of sensitive data is transmitted via networks and IoT devices used in the industry. In the current generation where data and information are quite valuable and can help a business achieve market dominance, industries have to protect their sensitive information.

Protection of sensitive data and information entails ensuring that the data and information cannot be accessed without authorization. In all industries, protecting sensitive data and information from unauthorized access entails setting up cyber security measures.

With the current industrialization wave, industries have sensitive data and information such as trade secrets, blueprints, designs, employee information, etc. This data should be secured through the implementation of cyber security measures to prevent cyber attack cases.

Conclusion

Interconnectivity is becoming more embraced in various functions in industries. The industries should put up operational technology cyber security measures. Failure to do so is regarded as ignorance of cyber security and data safety. Such ignorance puts the industries at risk, and their clients as well.

There are numerous OT cybersecurity tools available for industries to use. The operational technology cybersecurity tools are handy for securing industrial systems. It is therefore important that industries strategically choose the best OT security platform for them and implement it. The chosen OT security platform should address and meet the industry’s basic cyber security needs.