The VINCI Energies brands, Actemium and Axians, jointly developed a collaborative robot (cobot) to counter cyber threats in the manufacturing sector.
The manufacturing sector is becoming increasingly digitised through new objects such as sensors, mobility tools and the “cloudification” of industrial applications. As a result, there is an integration of production systems controlled by operational technology (OT) with IT. However, these IT systems are potentially accessible from the outside, therefore the industrial facilities are vulnerable to attacks. It is important to find solutions to industry-related cybersecurity problems, address issues surrounding data flow and processing, as well as increase collaboration between OT and IT.
The article on The Agility Effect talks to Vincent Bazillio, development manager at Axians about reconciling two cultures, awareness raising tools and adopting good practices.
To better protect manufacturing equipment and data, Axians and Actemium have developed awareness-raising tools. These tools are based on system vulnerability assessments and penetration testing executed by “white hat” or good hackers. The tests reveal what vulnerabilities can be exploited to attack an industrial system and how to secure the equipment.
Actemium is an expert in industrial culture, its core business, while Axians specialises in IT operating procedures. It was this dual competence that brought the two VINCI Energies brands together to offer manufacturers cybersecurity solutions that comply both with industry-specific requirements and good information system practices.
The simulation reveals to manufacturers that the equipment they use is not necessarily secure. Axians and Actemium use a network mapping system, showing the connected equipment. This also displays vulnerabilities of each component and allows manufacturers to put in place security measures such as a firewall.
