Connectivity has changed the way people live. Today people can access information and entertainment, interact with family and friends, and even manage devices in their home from any place, any time, using a multitude of user devices. Not surprisingly, today’s worker is demanding equal access in their work lives. They want to be able to access corporate apps, data, and factory systems from home and freely collaborate with colleagues on critical issues.
Industrial companies recognize the benefits of enabling connected workers. Enabling remote worker access to operating facilities can shorten the time to diagnose and resolve operational problems and reduce the need for people in distributed facilities and hazardous areas. Similar benefits are driven when companies enable workers within plants and at job sites to freely communicate with external subject matter experts (SMEs) and access external websites. But all of these interactions increase the risks of cyber-attacks with devastating consequences.
The purpose of this workshop is to discuss the security challenges that industrial companies need to address when they enable IT and OT connected workers and the actions that can be taken to avoid serious cyber incidents. A panel of experts will share their experiences and strategies for securely enabling connected workers in industrial operations. Attendees will be invited to offer their input and discuss their own issues and concerns.
Participation in this workshop will be of benefit to owner-operators, security professionals, suppliers, and other stakeholders in enabling secure industrial connected workers programs.