As automation in the warehouse becomes the rule rather than the exception – recently Amazon announced their warehouse robot has the same dexterity as a human hand - so too increases the cyber risk, and potential for total devastation of your supply chain.

The risk is not limited to SMEs either. Tesla was one of the companies stung by the hack of Verkada, a global CCTV manufacturer with 13,000 business users. The hackers accessed 150,000 individual camera feeds, including inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, psychiatric hospitals, Tesla’s Shanghai factory, and in the offices of Cloudfare, itself a security company.

The hackers cited motivation for the attack as anti-capitalism, anarchism, and freedom of information. More worryingly, the attack was relatively unsophisticated, using a ‘super-admin’ account to access Verkada’s systems. Owners of warehouses and distribution centres will recognise the same motivations could make any ecommerce-related business extremely vulnerable to external malicious threats.

Warnings have also been issued that as Russia and China ramp up their cyber-aggression towards the West, European and American companies should expect an increase in online warfare, particularly against critical national infrastructure and energy industries – both of which rely on warehouses and big sheds. Russia’s ‘NotPetya’ attack in 2016 was aimed primarily at the Ukraine but the ransomware spread around the globe, causing $10 billion in damages.

So how best to protect the cyber security of your warehouse?

1. Use Western-aligned sources and NDAA compliant products
   Although legislation for IoT and IIoT is lagging behind the rate of innovation, choosing a well-known, cyber-safe brand of products is key. Logisticomms uses NDAA (National Defence Authorization Act) compliant products to protect your business. Logisiticomms is also proud to have achieved SSAIB accreditation for the design, installation, and maintenance of surveillance and intruder alarm systems.
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2. Go for a specialist warehouse security firm
   Warehouse security brings its own set of concerns, unique to the industry. Using a specialist who has experience in the field allows you to anticipate the typical pitfalls and harness the most popular benefits.
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   The ability to work as a team with other stakeholders is also an important advantage. For example, Mechanical & Electrical contractors often have responsibility for parts of the infrastructure supporting your security systems. When your security specialist has a proven track record of successfully overseeing every aspect of systems installation from networking to civils, it saves you the worry of loopholes in your cyber security.
   
   Picking an experienced warehouse security company can also help you discover what other companies in your sector (and potentially competitors) are doing to secure their sites and maximise their profits. Ensuring you are at least doing the same will avoid technological inertia and attract new clients to your warehouses.
   
   Logisticomm’s VideoAudit technology is the cutting edge in video management, and will instantly increase profits in your warehouses whilst reducing vulnerability – for more information, click here.
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3. Integrate your physical and cyber security
   Good cyber security starts with good physical security. Propping open fire doors, sharing key-cards and having weakly-controlled site gates or barriers all contribute to not being able to pinpoint where your workforce is at any given moment in time – and thus leaves the door open (literally and figuratively) to missing and stolen data.
   
   Biometric scanning can help you keep close watch on exactly who’s accessing sensitive areas of your warehouse, as it creates a digital timesheet of who is passing through each door, and the system is impossible to hoodwink. For more information on our biometric scanners, access control and alarms, click here.  

Don’t let your security systems become the means of a security breach, choose Logisticomms. Contact us for a free, no-obligation discovery meeting at sales@anchorss.co.uk.