In this episode of Great Question, Scott Achelpohl of Smart Industry and Dennis Scimeca of IndustryWeek revisit news of several recent cyber breaches in manufacturing and examine the phenomenon of threat groups using AI to power their attacks.
The S7 Series is part of a family of programmable logic controllers that are used widely in manufacturing and in critical U.S. infrastructure. The intrusions follow warnings, including those on this site, that AI is supercharging cyberattacks on plant gear.
Research sought by industrial AI software provider IFS discovers a gap between the desire to implement agentic AI and the ability among manufacturers to do so, while highlighting key areas where they can bridge the gap to still utilize some agents.
Such studies give manufacturers information to plan investments and prepare to modernize based on what’s installed now—instead of relying upon incomplete records or assumptions. This is essential before initiatives like AI or advanced analytics can advance.
The collaboration prioritizes designs that could improve efficiency and installation costs, while state regulations on data centers vary as industrial demand only grows.
Models are good, dashboards are polished, the pilots get funded, extended, and occasionally turned into a press release. What they mostly don't do is show up in a quarterly number the leadership team is willing to defend.
