What if you are hacked? That’s the question many people ask themselves, when they consider industrial control systems (ICS) and their implementation. Many large corporations, especially those in the defense industry, are quite fond of investing in this technology, largely due to the fact that it enables them to seamlessly monitor all aspects of their production. When someone hacks into one of these systems, it can be extremely dangerous; especially when it comes to those working at the receiving end of such remotely controlled systems.
One of the major benefits of remotely controlled ICS is that, unlike traditional manufacturing automation methods, it allows for the same type of control to be achieved in a completely virtual manner. For this reason, reaching out to a suitable control system manufacturer seems to be the most viable option that companies are seeking out these days. However, this is not to say that a hacker would be easily able to hack into these industrial control systems, or that even most businesses would be able to do so. Still, the reality is that you may be dealing with a company or organization that has found great success in controlling industrial automation through the use of remote-controlled systems, and they may be compromised by a cyber attack.
When looking at what if you are hacked, there are a number of different scenarios that could affect how your system is hacked. One scenario would be an internal organization employee accessing the wrong setting on the system. While this would not usually compromise the industrial control system itself, it can compromise any other information that is stored on the network. When this happens, not only would the employee be hacked but so too would any data that was stored on the network. Naturally, such a breach can lead to catastrophic results; especially if a virus caused the files to be corrupted.
Another scenario would be a cyber attack originating from a foreign country. For some, such an attack would simply compromise a specific piece of software. For others, the attack might go further and attempt to penetrate the industrial control systems of the company itself. Either way, when considering what if you are hacked, it is important to know whether your business depends upon such highly confidential information.
If you are working in the information technology or computer security field, chances are that you have experienced these cyber attacks before. This does not necessarily mean that the attack was malicious (there are many cases where hackers are not looking to harm anyone). However, a cyber attack can compromise a company’s network and potentially cause chaos and damage to the entire network. In many cases, such attacks have resulted in a company’s system going down for days or weeks – which can completely take over a company’s production and sales offline. So the question of what if you are hacked has become even more pressing because cyber attacks can happen to any company at any time.
Naturally, if you are working in or around the information technology field, then you know how important data is. Therefore, you should be very careful about what if you are hacked because an attack can compromise not just one part of your network but the entire system. Also, because cyber attacks can often be hard to detect, they can affect and/or halt your company’s access to the Internet. While such attacks might seem like a joke, they are very real and should be taken seriously.