The impact of legacy machines on future manufacturing cybersecurity

Abstract

Despite the focus on future-generation equipment, legacy industrial machines will continue to exist. In terms of cybersecurity risks, what happens when these machines must be connected? We’ve answered this question by taking a close look at a previous-generation industrial robot, one of the most widespread industrial machine, used practically in every sector, including for manufacturing. Besides the software vulnerabilities that we have found, which we consider “natural” in embedded software, we focused on the root cause of these vulnerabilities and we will discuss our thoughts and practical recommendations with the audience. We will provide a demo of what happens when an attacker compromises an industrial robot, explaining how a software flaw can go all the way down to affecting the quality of the manufactured goods. Beyond robots, the entire factory features more and more embedded systems, which are a critical entry point for an external attacker, and thus need to properly be secured.

Date
Apr 9, 2018 12:00 AM
Location
Hannover, Germany