Understanding security roles

A sustainable IIoT security implementation depends on the well-orchestrated efforts of various ecosystem partners and stakeholders. The preceding section of this chapter (Securing processes across the IIoT life cycle) discussed actionable steps to integrate security across IIoT life cycle processes. These processes are also linked to multiple roles; each role is associated with its respective security onus. Effective security governance depends on role-based accountability. This section dissects and evaluates security responsibilities based on four broad role categories. Figure 7.3 illustrates these broad roles as four pillars (Author's note: the diagram only presents the roles, not necessarily the relational connections between these roles):

Figure 7.3: IIoT security responsibilities based on broad roles

Solution provider

Solution provider in Figure 7.3 is a generalized category representing providers of IIoT endpoint technologies, crypto solutions, software applications...