According to Deloitte, their “2023 Deloitte and Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC) Industrial Metaverse Study reveals that manufacturers have an opportunity to build on their smart factory momentum to springboard into the industrial metaverse.” Article 3 September 2023, Deloitte Research Center for Energy & Industrials: “Exploring the industrial metaverse.”
Implementation of trending metaverse and Smart Factory and City technology has required a change in basic assumptions in how we view product and workplace experience. This shift, that places people at the center of the action rather than just connecting them to platforms and software, it is derived from combinations of innovative technologies that positively impact the ability to gain insights, train, explore and create new workspaces utilizing complex 3D environments that mirror the workplace, product deployment, practice environment or service environment. This has been achieved using among others, immersive technologies, artificial intelligence, and blockchain.
E3S believes that an equally robust Cybersecurity change in thinking is required to ensure digital safety and maintain resilient cyber-postures- factors that can affect its financial viability, inclination to adopt and safety and ease of adoption. Its most sexy feature, the transformation of interaction from the physical to a virtual world along with its most utilitarian mechanism, the use of Extended Reality (XR) (Mixed reality (MR) Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR) )software, equipment, and headsets for immersive experiences, have to be monitored because both open doors to more advanced threats. They have provided more access to data including critical biometric data and increased the available footprint for digital criminals.
Manufacturers have begun exploring metaverse solutions for industrial applications, aiming to revolutionize production processes, supply chain management, and smart factory initiatives. Experts and studies from Smart City Conferences, Deloitte, Gartner, and others have highlighted these cybersecurity risks. There are key operational technology (OT), and information technology (IT) cybersecurity challenges manufacturers must resolve to build a foundation of resilience, and the ones listed below are some that relate to metaverse, Smart Factory/City technology. Below is a look at what we think are the most significant cybersecurity challenges faced by manufacturers when implementing metaverse solutions- we have sought to highlight five main challenges and give an idea of their impact.
1. Data Privacy and User Identification
- Challenge: User Identification-Biometric authentication methods, while highly secure, are vulnerable to exploitation if compromised. Misuse of this data poses significant risks, especially in industrial settings where secure access to machinery and systems is critical.
- Impact: long-term identity theft and unauthorized access to sensitive industrial data are some of the consequences of breaches involving biometric. Maintaining strict cybersecurity protocols is essential especially since there is a reliance on AI-based metaverse systems to manage this data,
2. Decentralized Infrastructure Vulnerabilities
Deloitte notes that the integration of blockchain and decentralized assets in the industrial metaverse brings unique cybersecurity concerns.
- Challenge: Metaverse relies on blockchain technologies and NFTs for asset management and transactions, this decentralized nature opens new doors for cyberattacks. Smart contract exploits and attacks on digital currencies can disrupt industrial operations.
- Impact: Any breach in the decentralized infrastructure can lead to financial losses, operational delays, and reputational damage. Hackers are attracted to the high probability of Blockchain vulnerabilities, and this is set to grow as more industries embrace the metaverse.
3. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities:
Gartner and Deloitte both emphasize the need for robust cybersecurity measures across supply chains, particularly with increased metaverse adoption in these sectors.
- Challenge: Implementation of digital twins and interconnected systems in metaverse-enabled smart factories extends the attack surface and this can prove to be operationally debilitating.
- Impact: Supply chain cyberattacks targeting digital twins, production lines, and warehouse management systems can cause massive disruptions. Such compromises when extended to the supply chain can halt production, leading to significant monetary loss and affecting national and global operations. It is a crucial factor to be considered by manufacturers relying on just-in-time production models.
4. Identity and Access Management (IAM) Issues
Smart Factory and metaverse applications in manufacturing often struggle with secure IAM deployment, and this has been flagged as a major issue by tech conferences and expert reviews.
- Challenge: Weak identity management can lead to unauthorized access to critical systems. Managing multiple digital identities and access points for employees (both on-site and remote), contractors, and machines in the industrial metaverse introduces IAM complexities.
- Impact: If IAM protocols are not secure, the potential for data breaches and espionage increases. For industries like aerospace and defense, which require stringent security, this could have catastrophic consequences.
5. Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks
- Challenge: DDoS attacks aimed at disrupting immersive 3D environments and real-time data exchanges are likely to increase. As the metaverse becomes more integral to manufacturing processes, the technology creates gateways for breaches and infiltration.
- Impact: Attacks could cause downtime, delay production schedules, and lead to lost revenue. Protecting real-time communication between machines and human operators is critical for maintaining operational efficiency. This is a monumental concern, and several studies have noted the growing reliance on continuous, real-time data in metaverse environments.
Conclusion: The Role of Cybersecurity in Metaverse Solutions
As industries move towards more immersive, decentralized, and interconnected digital environments, safeguarding these infrastructures from cyber threats is critical, there we can surmise that Cybersecurity is foundational to the success of metaverse adoption in manufacturing. Negative impacts from cybersecurity failures range from disrupted operations to compromised sensitive industrial data, causing long-term damage to brand reputation and financial stability. E3S suggests that the mitigation approach applied to enterprise cyber posture planning should carry over to specifics related to the Manufacturing industry’s metaverse and Smart Factory and City technology so that strategies for prevention, detection, response, and recovery from compromises are factored into planning and built into the routines for maintaining the environments.
Manufacturers must prioritize cybersecurity by adopting robust identity management systems, securing decentralized infrastructures, and implementing proactive defense mechanisms against cyber threats like DDoS attacks and data breaches. It is imperative that there is increased collaboration between cybersecurity experts, technology providers, and industry leaders and this is essential in creating a secure and scalable metaverse ecosystem. Cybersecurity should not be an afterthought or a just-in-case-fix, it needs to be a foundational plank, and important bridge between the technology wish lists and the actual adoption and implementation in order to make the Metaverse, Smart City and Smart Factory technology a high yielding investment.

