The recently exposed cybersecurity vulnerabilities related to the log4j logging library has the potential to have far-reaching impacts in the manufacturing space. With the proliferation of the Internet of Things in the past decade, particularly as more and more devices on the plantfloor are connected within an OT network or to cloud services outside of the plant, there are more ways for a vulnerability like this make its way into plantfloor operations.

Single Pair Ethernet is the new physical layer technology transforming communications for automation devices. Single pair ethernet (SPE) is designed for devices on the edge in OT applications and serves as the "last mile" connection.