Growing connectivity, new regulations, and long-term operational requirements are pushing cybersecurity decisions into the earliest stages of industrial project design.
In many water treatment projects, OT cybersecurity is still treated as something that can be handled later, after the main technology selections have been made and the system design is already moving toward detailed engineering or commissioning.
That approach simply does not work anymore. As industrial systems become more connected and cybersecurity requirements continue to expand, decisions made late in the project can create compliance issues, increase costs, complicate commissioning, and leave plant owners with security gaps that are much harder to address after startup.
Water treatment facilities rely heavily on Operational Technology because the Distributed Control System (DCS) and associated automation can extend through almost the entire treatment process. That may include raw water intake, screening, chemical feed, coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, disinfection, sludge handling, storage, and distribution, along with pumps, motors, valves, instrumentation, analyzers, and other treatment equipment. In many facilities, the automation system is involved in nearly everything that happens from the time raw water enters the plant until treated water leaves the facility.
However, that also creates cybersecurity concerns as water treatment operators connect more systems for remote support, process optimization, analytics, cloud applications, IT/OT integration, and other digital technologies.
In the European Union, OT cybersecurity is moving beyond a matter of technical preference. The Cyber Resilience Act and NIS2 are placing defined responsibilities on both sides of the industrial environment. Suppliers must provide products that meet security requirements, while critical infrastructure operators must manage cybersecurity risk throughout their operations.
“In the EU, cybersecurity is enforced by law. That is why everyone is on their toes,” says Teemu Kiviniemi, Solution Manager for OT Cybersecurity Services at Valmet. Valmet is a leading worldwide provider of process technologies, automation systems, and services across a wide range of process industries. With headquarters in Espoo, Finland, Valmet has over 220 years in the industrial sector.
With modern automation platforms like Valmet DNAe, cybersecurity is built into the underlying architecture. The platform was developed to support IT/OT convergence, with industrial-standard interfaces and edge technology providing connectivity from field-level sensors through to cloud applications. This allows data to move across the system and supports the use of digital intelligence and AI-based tools at different levels of the operation.
Valmet’s services are designed to support the entire cybersecurity lifecycle. This includes determining which patches are required for specific automation systems, testing those patches before they are recommended to customers, and supporting deployment when the operating schedule allows.
For more information about Valmet’s process automation systems, please visit www.valmet.com.