[Julian Smith]

One of the top issues for many manufacturing companies at the moment is Cyber Security. We have noticed in the last couple of years that more and more people are thinking about or asking us about it. Traditional Information Technology (IT) systems policies and reference guides can go someway to giving you an insight into what you need to do to protect yourself. However, they aren't that great for people who run Operational Technology and Industrial Control Systems - a lot of the resources I see are very IT focussed and do not address the issues faced by those of us who run systems in non-carpeted enviroments.

Recently I had the pleasure of working with some representatives from our local police's Cyber Crime Unit and they shared some useful resources with me from the NCSC. These might seem overly simplistic (and a lot of the recommendations don't just apply to SME's), but I've seen a lot of very detailed guides over the years and they can be too complicated.

I'd be interested to hear the views of the members on these attachments.

[Julian Smith]

I've also been given a copy of a Supply Chain Cyber Security guide - which is a nifty one pager so not a lot to read HERE

Most (all?) of us will have to commit and agree to the security policies of our upstream and downstream partners if we are to secure all our assets effectively. I don't see any business that wants to exist in the future, ignoring or downplaying the importantance of having and practising good security policy if they want to continue trading!