The evolution of communications in society is also having an impact on the industrial world. With the arrival of 5G, many industrial companies have considered migrating some of their communications to take advantage of the characteristics of this new mobile communications band, such as the reduction of latency times, the increase in connection speed or the exponential increase in the number of devices that can be connected to the network. These characteristics fit perfectly with the industrial mentality, where there are a multitude of interconnected devices between which there cannot be a communication cut due to the criticality of the processes they implement.
This article aims to comment, in addition to all the advantages that 5G provides to the industry, the different uses that can be given currently and the complexity of implementing these communications in some devices for subsequent deployment in the industry. Also, to specify possible vulnerabilities in communications using 5G networks.
Within the industrial world, systems can be detected that do not have all their cybersecurity capabilities activated. This can occur for a variety of reasons, but if detected, each case must be analyzed to get the most out of each device.
The ability to robustly configure programs, services or other nuances within industrial systems is called bastioning and allows, among other things, to prevent assets from having a large exposure to the network or the solutions deployed in the system from having vulnerabilities resulting from misconfiguration.
In this article, we will begin by explaining what hardening is and how to apply it to our industrial network, along with some good practices to follow.
With the industrial revolution of Industry 4.0, industrial processes have become more intelligent, and this has led to the deployment of a greater number of devices.
All these deployments usually have a common point, being the gateways, which, after being deployed, are responsible for the translation of some protocols to the TCP/UDP frame or simply send the information to the cloud.
Being a point that gathers a large amount of data and capable of providing intelligence to industrial processes, industrial gateways have become a very desirable target for attackers.