Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is a tech-driven approach involving different technologies (i.e. Cloud Computing, 5G, IoT, AI, etc.) and solutions enhancing the industrial/production environment. The fully-connected, automated, secured and intelligent environment involves new communication models (5G, Wi-Fi 6, etc.), standards and thousands of IoT-based devices (end-points collecting/transmitting data), which-if compromised may lead to data-security (confidentiality, integrity and availability) issues such as: DoS, altered processes/data, lack of visibility, control, complete system failure, etc. Currently, 20-30% of Industrial cyber attacks remain undetected for months leading to massive financial/data loss. The authors present a framework which may assist in analysing/assessing and securing communications in I4.0 environment.

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This novel concept of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is based on the concept of a fully-connected, secure, scalable, interoperable, automated and intelligent environment. Benefits of Industry 4.0 include: Smart industrial robotics, digital twins, condition monitoring, data security, etc. Data and network security are key factors driving the smart manufacturing environment, data analysis (AI) helps Industry 4.0 in making efficient decisions related to the production, transparency, product work flow and flexibility. Since it is a novel landscape involving new technologies and millions of IoT-based devices transmitting data, any cybersecurity breach may not only cause complete system failure but huge data breaches, defected products and financial/asset losses. The figure below shows the timeline and impact of cybersecurity breaches in the Industrial environment (which are massive). Considering a fully automated I4.0 environment, the cyber threats and their impact will be immensely bigger than past generation of Industries (I3.0).

The authors talk will elaborate different cybersecurity issues in the I4.0 environment and present a framework for analysing/assessing secure communications in Industry 4.0.