What does Cyber-Physical Security look like in the Connected-Farm?

Abstract - Industry 4.0 is a concept that is accelerating digital transformation in the Farming and Agriculture industry, but at the same time increasing cyber risk. Greater connectivity and automation between computer systems and physical machines responsible for farming operations and agricultural production processes is helping to optimise and increase operational efficiency, however, is in equal measure increasing the exposure of these systems to compromise by cyber criminals who aim to sabotage production systems, steal intellectual property, or extort victims with ransomware. In this webinar will cover a basic introduction to common cybersecurity threats that connected-farming systems are exposed to, the potential impact these threats can have on operations, and how the use of automated computer and physical system monitoring in farming operations can help to securely enable Industry 4.0 adoption, so as to maximise production uptime, efficiency, and safety, without the need for cybersecurity expertise.

Speaker Bio - Dr. Ryan Heartfield has over a decade of experience in combatting complex cybersecurity threats through AI-driven threat detection and incident response capabilities, and dynamic software-defined network security architecture. Prior to Exalens, Ryan was a senior security architect at Splunk for Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR), and security architect for UK Government, where he led the delivery of advanced cybersecurity operations capabilities. He is a previous Research Fellow of Cybersecurity within the Internet of Things and Security Research Centre at the University of Greenwich; his published work in AI-driven intrusion detection for cyber-physical systems and semantic social engineering attacks has received both academic and industry acclaim. He holds a PhD in Cybersecurity and First-class degree in Computer Systems and Networking from the University of Greenwich.