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Cybersecurity in Additive Manufacturing: Securing the industry’s future In the digital world of Additive Manufacturing, just how cybersecure are your operations and your customers' critical parts? A survey of AM producers has suggested that the answer is probably not secure enough. In this article, Auburn University’s Prof Mark Yampolskiy, and industry analyst Joseph Kowen, present a high-altitude overview of the security threats facing those in the AM community. Cybersecurity, they suggest, should be considered as no less important than metallurgy or 'Design for AM' and, with the development of AM-specific standards and third-party security solutions, it need not be an overwhelming task.
Talk about cybersecurity is everywhere. We worry about cybersecurity in connection to our phones, our home computers and, of course, our work. It’s a ubiquitous topic that is frequently referenced and spoken about across many areas of modern life. Similar to Artificial Intelligence – the other information technology topic that seems to occupy an increasingly central place in personal and professional discourse – cybersecurity is a well-discussed issue in broad terms, but its details are less well understood by many, including professionals in the Additive Manufacturing industry. An analysis of the topic should, therefore, be framed by a clear demarcation of what the security risks mean for the real world of AM, and not merely as an esoteric concern or as a best business practice. The objective of this article is to act as a high-altitude overview of security threats in AM; a detailed discussion of the strategies for how to mitigate and defend against these threats are best left to a separate article.
Vol. 9 No. 4 © 2023 Inovar Communications Ltd
In the context of Additive Manufacturing, the value of a debate on the issue of security lies in a feeton-the-ground understanding of what the term means in practice. To start, let’s describe a couple of scenarios:
SCENARIO 1 Company A develops an innovative design for a part. It is tested and qualified and is readied for production by AM. Due to a data breach – possibly during the process
Fig. 1 Whilst AM, the digital factory and decentralised, on-demand production, present significant opportunities, what are the security threats and how can we manage the associated risks? (Courtesy Patrick Helmholz/Adobe Stock)
Metal Additive Manufacturing | Winter 2023
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Cybersecurity in AM
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