You see news on the dismal economy and news stories on cyber-security pretty much everyday.  It’s not surprising that we are now seeing them tied together in the same article:  Cyber Security: A Hard Sell in Tough Economic Times. At companies hit crunch time on the bottom line, they will be looking at areas to cut.  Since security is already not getting the love it truly deserves, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it on the block.  Companies are already unwilling to talk about what lack of security is costing them.  I think this quote from this article speaks volumes on that topic:

“…government efforts led by the Homeland Security Dept. have been stymied by bureaucratic confusion and an unwillingness by agencies and corporations to share information about cyber break-ins. The commission’s report catalogues incidents afflicting financial institutions, large corporations, and government agencies…”

While most cyber-security discussions talk about financial and communications systems, the most alarming are talks regarding Power Utilities and other infrastructure systems.  Talks like the one from Rick Sergel, President & CEO of NERC at the NARUC Meetings 2008, last July 20, don’t paint a warm and fuzzy picture.   To some people what might be even more alarming is the recent report on cyber-security that basically says the status-quo is not working and calls for more government involvement.

Certainly there are more and more manufacturers that a thinking about the OPC security of their systems.  The most recent release of the MatrikonOPC Security Gateway is quickly becoming a popular choice for many OPC installations.  Also there are more users requesting OPC Servers that natively support security.  And of course the whole topic of Security is always popular when talking about OPC UA.

What about your company? Have you had your cyber-security projects delayed or cancelled due to the recent economic crunch?  For the folks in the USA, is the prospect of increased government involvement having any affect on your business decisions?