The Manufacturing Of Yesterday vs, The Manufacturing Of Today
Manufacturing of yesterday in India relied on manual oversight, mechanical processes and siloed systems, where consistency and uptime were the top priorities. Today, under the push initiatives like Make in India, factories are rapidly transforming into digitally connected ecosystems powered by SCADA, PLCs, IoT devices and real-time analytics. In this journey, everything from shop-floor sensors to supply chains has been reimagined, fueling India’s rise as a global manufacturing hub and setting the stage for all the changes shown below:
When The Factory Got Smart, The Attack Surface Got Better
This connectivity unlocked predictive maintenance, higher throughput and remote operations – but it also multiplied entry points, broadened attacker opportunities and blurred the lines between IT and OT.
Attackers are increasingly taking advantage, and the situation is even more heightened in India: according to a recent Fortinet report, 55% of smart manufacturing firms in India reported more than 6 intrusions in the last year, a drastic uptick from 11% the year before. Recently, several Indian industrial entities were forced to halt operations due to successful cyber threats, underscoring the dire consequences of such events.
The Importance Of Getting IT-OT Convergence Right
In the same Fortinet report, it is mentioned that one of the key drivers in this steep rise in manufacturing-centric cyber intrusions is the current convergence of IT & OT networks that many enterprises in the sector are undertaking. This integration, at its core, makes perfect business sense – linking IT & OT enables real-time visibility across the factory floor as well as corporate operations, helping enterprises optimize operations, reduce downtime and improve product quality.
The problem is, many enterprises are leaving gaps while undertaking this convergence, and that can lead to debilitating consequences such as lateral movement from IT to OT, exposure of legacy protocols to the Internet and cascading risks that can halt production or damage physical assets.
The reality is that IT & OT must be integrated in a way where they work in complementary ways. Done wrong, it creates blind spots that attackers exploit – done right, it amplifies the best qualities of both:
Securing Today’s Factory Floor With iValue’s Industrial Security Stack
Unlike other digital stack providers in the market, iValue’s Manufacturing/Industrial Security Stack is designed specifically for the unique requirements of industrial environments. What sets our stack apart is its ability to safeguard operations while optimizing performance, ensuring both zero downtime and uncompromised safety.
The result is a comprehensive, layered architecture for the modern factory floor – holistically provided by our industry-leading OEMs:
A Stack That Works In Sync To Create Seamless IT-OT Convergence
What sets our stack apart is the fact that it doesn’t just secure OT environments in isolation: it bridges IT and OT, enabling manufacturers to extract maximum value from integration while minimizing cyber risks. Each OEM contributes vitally to this balance, creating a fabric where IT and OT objectives are mutually inclusive rather than conflicting:
- Optimized operations without compromising security
- Data-driven insights with protected flows across IT and OT
- Seamless regulatory compliance that doesn’t slow down innovation
- Resilience against cyberattacks that target both digital and physical assets
