The industrial internet represents one of the most promising and transformative applications of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Accenture estimates that Industrial IoT (IIoT) could add $14.2 trillion to the global economy by 2030, arguably making IIoT one of the biggest drivers of productivity and growth in the next decade.

As IIoT transforms previously isolated systems to a connected network that is intertwined with our day-to-day lives and businesses, it creates new critical dependencies on the robust functionality of that infrastructure. IIoT brings the familiar and ever-increasing digital risks associated with cybersecurity into physical spaces, creating a vast array of new vulnerabilities including threats to public safety, physical harm and catastrophic systemic attacks on commonly shared public infrastructure.

The IIoT Safety and Security Protocol generates an understanding of how insurance, which plays an integral part in the incentive structures of cybersecurity norm-setting and governance, can facilitate the improvement of IIoT security design, implementation and maintenance practices.

The framework is intended to strengthen security IIoT services using active hardening processes that can be validated through proven penetration, configuration and compliance techniques.

The implementation and success of this Protocol will require the active participation of key stakeholders across the IIoT ecosystem. Feedback on this protocol is welcome and can be submitted by emailing pdn-iiot@weforum.org.

Explore the project area here

Report by the World Economic Forum