I know what some of you are thinking:
"Why is there a cybersecurity presence at a convention about robotics and manufacturing?"
You're not the only one who thought that. While walking the show floor, we had numerous companies and organizations stop me after seeing the word "cybersecurity" on the back of our shirts and ask me, "What are you doing here?" After explaining who I was and what ARORA Solutions offered, most of the responses I received were one of or a combination of a handful of responses, such as:
"We have an internal team for that."
"I don't know anything about that, but want to take a look at our product?"
"That's the IT team's responsibility."
"I use a VPN, is that enough?"
*Deer-in-the-headlights stare*
Based on the conversations I had, it appears that the connected workspace had passed the world of manufacturing by, either intentionally or due to lack of knowledge. Some I spoke with have even said that the systems currently in place to keep their production continuing must never be updated because one system update could bring the entire operation to a standstill thanks to the multiple interconnected legacy systems in place. So, when asked why I was at the convention, to put it in simple terms, if data is being transmitted somewhere in the production line from one endpoint to another, guess what? Your operation has a cybersecurity presence that needs to be addressed.
Oddly enough, I wasn't the only one at Automate who thought the same thing. I was invited by Leah Dodson from NextLink Labs to have a bit of a chat about this game of catch-up that needs to occur within this space and how important it is to be aware that in the modern workplace, cybersecurity is now everyone's responsibility and needs to be aware of it.