Mines, smelters and other heavy industries present unique cybersecurity challenges. Sabotage of critical control system computers can pose serious safety threats to workers at these sites. Emergency shutdowns and other equipment failures can result in serious physical damage and major losses for these facilities.

To make matters worse, the pervasive threat environment continues to worsen. Many of today’s targeted ransomware attackers are backed by nation-states, and are using the most sophisticated attack techniques ever seen.

Mines, smelters and other heavy industries urgently need cost-effective and extremely robust cyber protections. While intrusion detection, security monitoring, and incident response all play an important role in robust security programs, they fall short when it comes to preventing these attacks. And preventing these attacks is the top priority at sites where worker safety and massive physical investments are at stake.