Companies operating in the food manufacturing industry are at risk of potential cyber attacks, and should take measures to ensure that their digital platforms are as safe as possible, a new study has found.
The report, from the Food Protection and Defense Institute (FPDI) at the University of Minnesota, says that while the food industry has not yet been the target of expensive cyber attacks, there is a strong chance that they will be in the future, particularly as commonly-targeted sectors, such as energy and finance, are becoming more and more watertight.
Target
'The food industry is [...] already a frequent target of criminals, including transnational criminal organisations engaged in large-scale food fraud, counterfeiting, theft, and smuggling,' the FDPI said in its report, Adulterating More Than Food: The Cyber Risk To Food Processing And Manufacturing.
"The potential consequences of an attack on industrial control systems (ICSs) are just as significant, including massive financial losses for companies and/or harmed customers. And, food ICSs not only have many of the same vulnerabilities as other sectors, but many unique ones as well. These include those stemming from the many companies still using ICSs that were developed before security was a concern and can’t be updated.'
The institute said that while other industries have been the primary target of attacks to date, it's likely to be ''only a matter of time before the food industry is attacked as the others harden their defences, and the threats seek easier prey'.
Worst Case Scenario
A number of potential consequences exist as a result of a cyber attack, the institute warns, with the 'worst case scenario' being a situation in which an attack either intentionally or unintentionally causes a food product to become unsafe, and it isn’t noticed until the product reaches consumers.
As it explains, both the public health and business consequences of such a situation are 'potentially dire', with both government and industry experts determining that while the cyber risk to the sector is relatively low, individual firms could 'suffer catastrophic consequences from such incidents'.
It has suggested a number of measures that could be implemented to help protect food businesses, including fostering more communication between personnel, conducting risk assessments on a company's industrial control systems, involving staff with cybersecurity expertise in the procurement and deployment process for ICS devices, and extending your food safety and food defence culture to cybersecurity.
Digital Transformation
Commenting on the report, Dave Weinstein, CSO at Claroty, a provider of cybersecurity services, said, "While it doesn't receive many headlines, the cyber risk to the food and beverage manufacturing process is a serious one. Not only are most of the industrial control systems behind the manufacturing process inherently insecure, but many companies in this industry are embracing aggressive digital transformation initiatives.
"These efforts are great for productivity and efficiency, but they also introduce more connectivity to the manufacturing network, thus subjecting it to both commodity malware from the IT network and targeted threats."
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
