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Honeywell survey shows low adoption of industrial cybersecurity measures

Conducted by LNS Research and sponsored by Honeywell, the survey (“Putting Industrial Cyber Security at the Top of the CEO Agenda”) polled 130 strategic decision makers from industrial companies about their approach to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and their use of industrial cybersecurity technologies and practices.

The survey found more than half of respondents reported working in an industrial facility that has already had a cybersecurity breach. Additionally, 45% of the responding companies still do not have an accountable enterprise leader for cybersecurity, and only 37% are monitoring suspicious behaviour.

Finally, although many companies are conducting regular risk assessments, 20% are not doing them at all.

“Decision makers are more aware of threats and some progress has been made to address them, but this report reinforces that cybersecurity fundamentals haven’t been adopted by a significant portion of the industrial community,” said Jeff Zindel, VP and general manager, Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security. “In order to take advantage of the tremendous benefits of industrial digital transformation and IIoT, companies must improve their cybersecurity defenses and adapt to the heightened threat landscape now.”

The report also suggests three immediate actions for industrial organizations to capture the value of the new technologies:

1. Making industrial cybersecurity part of digital transformation strategies
2. Driving best practice adoption across people, processes and technology, from access control to risk monitoring, and tap external cyber expertise to fill gaps
3. Focusing on empowering leaders and building an organizational structure that breaks down the silos between IT and OT

“Cybersecurity needs to be part of every CEO’s agenda to ensure the effective, immediate and long-term deployment of strategies and technologies such as IIoT,” said Matthew Littlefield, president and principal analyst, LNS Research. “In short, in order for a business to succeed on its digital transformation journey, it needs to succeed with industrial cybersecurity.”