With all fields worried about cyber threats and security policies, the food industry is not left behind. With growing reports of cyber-attack reports, food industry is also at the risk of being threatened. IoT in food industry combined with the recent surge in IoT trends help counteract these security issues. IoT security and cloud security for food industry has become a common occurrence for a resilient and productive system.

Cyber threats can impact the food world in more ways than one. With the recent advancements in technology, the security of crops is also at risk. Such threats could impede the  movement and supply of crops, cause delay to the shipping of crops, result in rerouting of shipments and can even jeopardize the safety of food products. Cybersecurity and IoT in food industry and restaurants are essential to keep the food supply and systems in place. Many countries are actively involved in implementing IoT and we are all well aware of IoT in Canada, where these strategies are implemented in almost all walk of life!

A few of the many threats impacting the security of food industry and security:

• Web Skimming – With every sale going online, with e-commerce becoming a major source of sale, it is easy for hackers to get into the system. Malicious software code into food websites and digital payment gateways to hack into the credit card details of the customers is becoming a common scenario. Such breaches can trigger a system failure and disrupt normal operations.
• Ransomware – Without cloud security, the food industry is susceptible to ransomware attacks. According to a survey, the ransomware attacks increased over 250% in an year compared to the year 2016. These attacks can result in millions of data records being compromised, thereby resulting a interruption in the supply chain. This could further lead to expired food, food wastage and a decrease in the profit margins.
• Malware – Malware is a type of hacking which could break into industrial systems and data acquisition systems with the sole aim of bringing down the entire operations of factories and industries. Altering bill of materials, changing recipes and creating a toxic product can all lead to contamination of the food supply chain.

As stated above, the threats in the food industry fall into specifies few categories like theft, data corruption and manipulation of data. With simple practices of IoT in place, such instances can be brought down to near zero and cyber security can be restores in the industry.

• A data security program in collaboration with the IoT trends can be put into place that calls for – maintaining security zones, protecting critical control points, monitoring for predictive analysis and maintenance and a regular check of risk points
• Keeping sensitive data isolated from the rest of the data reduces the threat and maintains security
• Shifting to a cloud based security system for food management – they are hyper focussed on data security, have resources that are security experts, follow all the precautionary practices like monitoring, testing and redundancy testing.

The food industry is investing heavily in advanced technologies to assist in all of their business operations. With an increased awareness of risks to their businesses and the financial impact these threats have, food industries have fostered best practices at a cost, which is totally worth it considering the benefits they reap from the secure and threat free system. Adopting a food safety system will go a long way in reducing food wastage, a problem that is plaguing the world, and maximizing efficiency of the food chain!