IIoT is still in its nascent phase—and it comes with a lot of opportunities and risks that remain unknown to the manufacturers.
The biggest risk about leveraging IIoT in manufacturing operations is the real-world repercussions it will have on your production line. Because of its cyber-physical connection capabilities—if something goes wrong in the digital world, the outcome extends to the real world.
Like other relatively new technological advancements such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, or augmented reality—IIoT also suffers from the impending threat of security risks coming from the Internet channels.
The more network-connected devices you have in your manufacturing environment, the greater the attack surface for bad actors to target your operations.
Other than that, there are conventional manufacturing problems like improper integrations or miscalculations in implementations that can damage your manufacturing processes if not carried out properly.
These risks are heightened when you rely on IIoT to automate some parts of your manufacturing workflows. For instance, faulty algorithms when left unchecked can cause device overheating, explosions, system malfunction, workplace injury, or equipment damage.
