Industrial automation and production systems are increasingly exposed to cyber threats. What was once considered a secondary concern, often addressed only after incidents, has now become a strategic priority for manufacturers, OEMs, and infrastructure operators.
This shift is not driven by fear, but by reality: industrial environments are changing, and with them, the nature of risk.
Why industrial automation is becoming a target
As factories become more connected, they also become more visible and more accessible. Industrial systems that were once isolated are now integrated with enterprise IT, remote service platforms, and cloud-based analytics. This connectivity brings efficiency and insight, but it also expands the attack surface.
Cybercriminals have taken notice of this. According to ENISA and other European cybersecurity agencies, manufacturing and industrial operations are among the sectors most frequently targeted by cyber incidents, often due to their critical role in supply chains and infrastructure.
The motivation is not always espionage or sabotage. In many cases, attacks aim to disrupt operations, extort payments, or exploit weak entry points that were never designed to face today’s threat landscape.
The specific vulnerability of OT and CPS environments
Operational Technology (OT) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) present challenges that differ significantly from traditional IT environments.
Many industrial systems:
- were designed decades ago, with availability, not security, as the primary requirement;
- rely on legacy hardware and software that cannot be easily patched or replaced;
- require continuous operation, making downtime for updates difficult to schedule;
- expose remote access points for maintenance and support.
As a result, security controls commonly used in IT, such as frequent updates or aggressive network isolation, are not always feasible in OT. This structural vulnerability makes industrial systems particularly attractive targets.
In other words, it is not a lack of awareness, but a mismatch between legacy architectures and modern threats that creates risk.
From best practice to regulatory obligation
In response to this growing exposure, cybersecurity is no longer left to voluntary guidelines alone.
The European Union has introduced mandatory regulatory frameworks that directly impact industrial automation, including:
- NIS2, which strengthens cybersecurity requirements for essential and important entities;
- the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), which places security obligations on products with digital elements throughout their lifecycle;
- established standards such as IEC 62443, specifically designed for industrial automation and control systems.
Together, these initiatives signal a clear direction: cybersecurity is becoming a regulatory requirement, not just a technical choice.
Market pressure reinforces regulation
Beyond regulation, the market itself is raising the bar.
End users, system integrators, and OEM customers increasingly expect demonstrable security practices. Cybersecurity has become a selection criterion in tenders, a prerequisite for long-term partnerships, and a factor in brand trust.
In this context, security is no longer something to be added at the end of a project. It must be embedded into products, architectures, and development processes from the beginning.
A structural shift in industrial thinking
What we are witnessing is not a temporary reaction to isolated incidents, but a structural shift in how industrial automation is designed and evaluated.
Cybersecurity is moving:
- from perimeter defense to lifecycle management,
- from isolated controls to system-wide architectures,
- from optional feature to foundational requirement.
For the industrial sector, this represents a necessary evolution. One that aligns technology, regulation, and market expectations around a shared objective: resilient, secure, and sustainable automation.
Our commitment as a group
This evolution also applies to us.
As a group, we are actively aligning our technologies, processes, and development practices with the regulatory and market expectations shaping industrial cybersecurity today. Exor International has already achieved IEC 62443-4-1 certification, confirming a secure and repeatable development lifecycle for industrial automation products.
At the same time, we are continuing this journey across Exor International and the wider group, working to complete further certification and regulatory alignment initiatives in this area. The objective is clear: ensure that cybersecurity is addressed consistently, structurally, and sustainably across our entire offering.
This is not a one-time milestone, but an ongoing commitment.
Final thought
Industrial automation has always been about reliability and continuity. Today, cybersecurity is inseparable from those goals.
As systems become more connected and service-oriented, the ability to design, operate, and evolve automation securely is no longer a competitive advantage, it is a prerequisite for doing business.
