Smart factory: security issues, challenges, and solutions

Recently, due to the population aging and the fast development of information and communications technology (ICT), the number of laborers has remarkably decreased. This has created a demand to improve the productivity and product quality of companies and manufacturers. Besides, Smart Factories are expected to meet those requirements as consumers' needs are diversified, demanding personalized production and rapid and accurate manufacturing innovation rather than traditional manufacturing firms. The term “Smart Factory” means an intelligent factory that integrates ICT into the traditional manufacturing industry. This applies to the entire process of planning, requirement analysis, design, production, distribution, and sales. Smart Factory broadly covers level 4 areas that deal with general information technology (IT) and level 0–3 areas that deal with operational technology (OT). Thus, information covered in OT areas can cause problems not only for a company but also for its country if it is leaked to the outside world as a company’s core asset. Therefore, it is important to identify and respond to potential security threats in a Smart Factory environment. To this end, in this paper, we research the components of major Smart Factory architecture. Subsequently, we discuss security issues and problems that may occur before the establishment of a Smart Factory. Finally, we propose a Smart Factory security model and a secure response to cyberattacks to address security issues.