Information technology (IT) teams must protect their critical systems and operational technology (OT) from insider threats. As smart manufacturing’s prominence increases, it becomes a larger target for cybercriminals. Predictive analytics technology forecasts outcomes and could be critical for early detection and intervention — but will it be enough?

The rise in IT/OT convergence has made smart manufacturing a target for attackers. Even though IT teams gain visibility into their ecosystems, parsing through all those logs and records is time-consuming — they may overlook indicators of compromise.

Even if the IT team is well prepared for IT/OT convergence, integration drastically increases their attack surface. Leaving IT and OT separate and focusing solely on deploying smart technologies inadvertently raises their risk level.

Moreover, manufacturing facilities are generally vulnerable to insider threats, and any disconnect between the C-suite and factory-floor workers can exacerbate the issue.