Six practical ways to build cyber resilience in mining
December 10, 2018
December 10, 2018
Back in the day, cyber security in mining was limited to protecting critical IT systems from natural disasters or physical tampering. Today, with a connected work environment, a mine’s "attack surface" has increased exponentially–leading to a new raft of nightmare scenarios for mine executives to contend with.
Let’s be clear, the industry’s digital transformation comes with massive benefits. On mine sites across Australia, autonomous vehicles, haulage and drilling systems are improving workplace safety and creating production efficiencies.
But, with an increasing number of connected devices and systems, connected mine sites are more vulnerable than ever before to cyber security breaches and attacks from criminals, hacktivists, competitors and other nation states.
And you don’t have to be an evil genius to bring a mine to a halt.
An employee inadvertently clicking on a malware email can now compromise critical systems, meaning the whole mine has to be shut down while the issue is resolved. Even an hour of unplanned down time will have cascading effects across a global supply chain.
So, how can mines build cyber resilience and grow with confidence?
You need to evaluate your existing vulnerabilities and build in security from the outset. Above all, this means taking an end-to-end view rather than a siloed view of potential threats. In other words, define the "service" being provided as the mine’s primary asset–and IT networks and equipment as support structures rather than stand-alone entities.
Bear in mind:
Proactive, not reactive
Future security systems should be able to automatically manage complex risk decisions, reducing the potential for human error. They will clearly understand what is "normal", issue automatic alerts when something "abnormal" occurs and orchestrate a response. Human interventions will be limited to only those where a judgement is required, as well as new circumstances where machines need to be "taught".
Six practical steps to start developing cyber resilience
In order to embrace the future and all the technological advances that will impact the mining landscape, cyber resilience is paramount. Only with security at the heart of operations and culture can organizations truly grow with confidence.
Keep up with our latest content, news & insights
Join the conversation