Milling & Baking News - August 1, 2017 - 7

Editorial

Malware wake-up call for grain-based foods

n the aftermath of recent cyberattacks attracting exposed to cyber threats and the risk of compromise.
worldwide attention, the business community
Security patches, the importance of which were
increasingly is recognizing the danger posed by highlighted in the WannaCry attacks, may be difficult
computer hackers. For industrial businesses, includ- to apply in technologies like P.L.C.s, in part because
ing those in milling and baking, the risks run deep they run continuously. As a result it is much harder to
and require prompt attention and action.
protect industrial environments against these types of
Precipitating the heightened concern was what has threats. An attack on a P.L.C. that alters its logic may
become known as the WannaCry ransomware attack cause disruptions ranging from operation glitches to
in June targeting computers running on Microsoft unthinkable disasters.
operating systems, locking up data and demanding
This threat to industrial facilities was highlighted
payment of ransom in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. In earlier this year when cybersecurity researchers at
addition to affecting systems at automakers Nissan the Georgia Institute of Technology developed a new
and Renault, the attack wreaked havoc at National form of ransomware that took control of a simulated
Health Service hospitals in England and Scotland, af- water treatment plant. G.I.T. said that with access,
fecting computers, MRI scanners
the researchers ordered P.L.C.s to
The isolation of P.L.C.s has
and blood-storage refrigerators.
shut valves, increase the amount
been diminished by the
All-told, more than 2 million comof chlorine added to water and
connectivity of corporate
puters across 150 countries were
display false readings.
infected in the initial wave.
networks.
The challenges at industrial
For grain-based foods the epifacilities extend beyond P.L.C.s
sode hit still closer to home two weeks later when and other controllers running the so-called operator
several global corporations, including Mondelez In- plane. Other systems entail intermittent or continuternational, Inc., were struck by a similar cyberattack, ous human interaction, such as those that communidubbed NotPetya. In early July, Deerfield, Ill.-based cate measurements between operators and industrial
Mondelez said it was "making good progress in re- equipment (the data plane) and systems that carry
storing our systems" but warned the episode would traffic between operations and administration (the
shave at least three percentage points from its quar- management plane). These systems have vulnerabiliterly growth rate, suggesting a cost of about $200 mil- ties requiring attention, too.
lion, a figure wildly beyond the Bitcoin ransom indiEven as Mondelez operations approached normal,
cated to have been sought by the hackers.
the company was working with customers and other
Of concern in grain-based foods are potential vul- business partners to minimize disruptions.
nerabilities at the plant level, in industrial controllers,
"The company has also engaged outside specialists,
including programmable logic controllers that have including I.T. partners and global cyber security agenproliferated in industries like milling for more than cies and experts, to mitigate impacts of this incident and
25 years. Such devices serve as a plant's "brains," re- safeguard systems going forward," the company said.
sponsible for the continuous execution of an indusSuch steps certainly should not be limited in graintrial process lifecycle. Initially designed and deployed based foods to Mondelez. Safeguarding programmable
during a period in which mills and other automated controllers in plants should be no less a priority than proplants were insulated from the outside world, the tecting personal computers in offices. Services should be
isolation of P.L.C.s has been diminished by the con- explored to monitor control-plane activity and provide
nectivity of corporate networks. This level of connec- rapid and accurate alerts in the event of security breaches.
tivity is expanding steadily through advances of sup- Hackers willing to interrupt critical health care operations
ply-chain management and, for certain production would have no compunctions about interfering with the
facilities, e-commerce. All this leaves systems more food supply, and this threat must not be ignored. MBN
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