With recent news that BAE Systems is developing a new technology to enable Royal Navy ships in future to be controlled remotely, below is comment from Adam Greenwood-Byrne, CEO of RealVNC, the company that invented ‘virtual network computing’ technology used to connect over 1 billion devices by giants from NASA to Shell.
Adam explores why this news is a great step towards a connected society but also why security should be the first consideration in developing the programme.
Adam Greenwood-Byrne, CEO of RealVNC, comments:
“The news today that BAE Systems is developing a new technology to enable Royal Navy ships in future to be controlled remotely is a great step forward for innovation in AI and will take us one step closer to realising a truly connected society. However, while the focus on AI and AR fits well with the emerging tech stories we are seeing every day, there is a fundamental element missing that will support these developments.
“While a big priority of developers will be to roll-out these capacities quickly in order for the navy to benefit as soon as possible, it is vital that security is a major consideration due to the new points of vulnerability to consider, especially with cybersecurity threats now being a case of ‘if’ and not ‘when’. Remote access technology has come a long way from the ‘tool for the IT help desk’, to one that is essential for critical applications such as this.
“Therefore it is important that every aspect of security is taken seriously, from ensuring that the connection provided is secure, all the way to having cyber-skills available to remotely access ships in real-time and intervene in the case of an attack.”
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Article Link: http://digitalforensicsmagazine.com/blogs/?p=2587