The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is launching a national reference project for IT security in Industrie 4.0 in conjunction with industry. The aim is to provide effective protection for networked production systems against cyber attacks and espionage. The cooperation between 14 German industrial companies and seven research institutes and universities will demonstrate how points of attack for hackers can be minimised in real-world example cases. The project will examine for example how the production of individualised furniture such as fitted kitchens can be secured against cyber attacks in a typical Industrie 4.0 production landscape – from the initial order through to delivery.

The federal minister of education and research, Johanna Wanka, said: “IT security is one of the key prerequisites for using the opportunities presented by Industrie 4.0. Only when communication is secure can there be confidence in the new, networked production processes. We need reliable solutions that show how Industrie 4.0 can work for small and medium-sized enterprises too.”
The reference project is being coordinated by Homag Holzbearbeitungssysteme GmbH. Ralph Heuwing, CEO of the Homag Group, said: “IT security is crucial for the industry. We want to develop solutions together that are broadly applicable and can be employed along the entire value chain.”

The VDMA German Engineering Federation sees the project as one of the most important aspects in the implementation of Industrie 4.0 – especially in relation to production technology and for German plant equipment manufacturers. Reinhold Festge, president of the VDMA, said: “Industrie 4.0 must be conveyed clearly. This is crucial for its success. The exemplary use cases in particular, which are transferable to a variety of applications, show small and medium-sized companies how secure communication can function in Industrie 4.0. Our member companies want to see how solutions work in practice and how corporate expertise can be protected.”

For Germany, as the world’s leading industrial location, networked manufacturing is a key future opportunity in the digital transition. However, creating intelligent factories necessarily involves connecting the machines to the Internet. As a result, the growing threat of cyber attacks on IT systems is automatically extended to industrial equipment. Almost every third company in Germany has experienced attacks on its ICT systems in the past two years. According to a study by Corporate Trust, industrial espionage in Germany leads to losses of EUR 11.8 billion annually.

The IT security solutions developed under the project will be standardised so competition is not impeded and to provide costeffective solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The BMBF is funding the reference project with around EUR 20 million. The project is part of the new research program “Security and control in the digital world” and forms part of the new High-Tech Strategy with which the federal government turns ideas into innovations and establishes links between science, industry, research and society. This will create opportunities in the future and the jobs of tomorrow.

Press release published by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)