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Food and Beverage Cybersecurity

Discover the unique challenges facing the food and beverage cybersecurity, and how cyberelements tackles them with proven expertise built through years of supporting clients in the sector.

Critical Infrastructure: The Food & Beverage Sector

In the Food & Beverage industry, increasing automation and connectivity expose companies to growing cybersecurity risks that threaten both operational resilience and consumer safety. As regulations tighten, organizations must strengthen their security posture without compromising productivity.

Key facts and challenges:

  • Top-tier risk: 31% of agri-food companies cite cyber incidents as one of their main risks (Allianz Risk Barometer, 2025).

  • Frequent disruptions: In 2023, 36% of food industry professionals experienced cyberattacks, 70% of which led to production or operational downtime (Agro Media).

  • Food safety at stake: Attacks can compromise temperature sensors, allergen labeling, and ingredient tracking, posing direct risks to consumers.

  • Strict compliance requirements: The sector must comply with standards such as ISO 22000 and NIS2, which introduces stricter obligations, particularly around Identity and Access Management (IAM).

Many agri-food companies and cooperatives rely on the cyberelements platform to address these challenges with a Zero Trust approach that protects both IT and OT systems.

With multiple production sites, legacy OT systems, fragmented supply chain, and constant workforce turnover due to seasonal activity, securing both internal and external access had become a major operational risk.
The interconnection between our IT and OT environments expanded our attack surface significantly. We chose cyberelements because it allowed us to enforce strict identity and access management while maintaining OT/IT segmentation and ensuring secure remote access for external vendors.
It’s one of the few solutions that truly understands the industrial realities of the food & beverage sector.

Group Cybersecurity Manager at a multinational food & beverage company
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Case Study: Key Challenges in the Agri-Food Sector

Digital transformation in the food & beverage sector has led to increased interdependence between IT and OT systems

The agri-food industry is undergoing a profound digital transformation, increasing the interconnection between IT and OT systems across production and processing environments.

  • IT/OT Convergence Increases Risk
    As digital transformation connects production and processing environments, IT and OT systems become more interdependent, increasing the attack surface and making access control more complex.

  • High Turnover Demands Rigorous Identity Management
    Seasonal employment creates constant onboarding and offboarding cycles. Inactive accounts must be quickly disabled or removed to limit vulnerabilities.

  • Regulatory Pressure
    Compliance with frameworks such as the NIS2 directive requires strict identity and access controls, including time-limited account activity and contextual access restrictions.

  • Multi-Site and Multi-Entity Structures
    Many agri-food businesses operate across several sites and subsidiaries, each with different identity sources and user roles. Complicating centralized access governance.

  • Fragmented Supply Chains and External Access
    A broad network of suppliers and service providers often needs remote access to IT and OT systems. These connections must be secured and monitored to prevent unauthorized access.

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The cyberelements Main Features for The Food & Beverage Sector

Managing Workforce Volatility Across Sites and Subsidiaries

In the food & beverage industry, high employee turnover, seasonal staffing, and complex multi-site operations make identity and access management particularly challenging. cyberelements responds to these needs with a modern, automated approach that simplifies administration while enhancing security and compliance.

Key advantages of cyberelements:

  • Automated identity lifecycle management – Seamlessly handles employee onboarding, role changes, and offboarding.

  • Flexible access rights engine – Easily assign and adjust user roles and privileges to match job functions and organizational policies.

  • Segregation of Duties (SoD) enforcement – Reduces risk by preventing conflicting access rights within critical systems.

  • Simplified multi-identity management – Streamlines administration for users with multiple accounts across subsidiaries or systems.

Securing Interconnected Factories in the Face of Expanding Attack Surfaces

Connectivity between industrial sites, the risk of cyberattacks grows. Cyberelements addresses this challenge by implementing robust Zero Trust principles designed to protect both IT and OT environments:

  • No direct exposure of internal resources thanks to advanced protocol break technology, which eliminates entry points for attackers.

  • Zero Trust access policies that apply strict “Never trust, always verify” rules to every user and connection attempt.

  • Least privilege and Just-in-Time (JIT) access to ensure users receive only the access they need, exactly when they need it.

  • Zero Standing Privilege, eliminating permanent privileged access and significantly reducing the risk of compromise.

Managing Third-Party Access in a Fragmented Supply Chain

The highly fragmented nature of the agri-food supply chain increases the number of external parties accessing critical systems, raising the risk of cyber incidents. cyberelements helps organizations control and monitor these interactions with advanced security capabilities:

  • Full session recording for complete traceability and compliance, capturing all user actions during remote sessions.

  • Real-time alerts and actions on active sessions to flag suspicious behavior, notify administrators, or automatically terminate risky connections.

  • Password vault with injection, providing secure access for external providers without ever revealing credentials.

  • Session sharing (four-hands mode) to ensure critical actions are jointly validated by multiple authorized users, enforcing control and accountability.

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Comply with cyberelements

Supporting NIS 2 Compliance in the Agri-Food Sector

The NIS 2 directive requires agri-food companies to raise their cybersecurity standards—particularly around identity and access management. This includes addressing governance, operational processes, and the protection of regulated systems.

cyberelements helps meet these demands through a Zero Trust, Identity-First approach that secures both IT and OT environments, whether accessed on-site or remotely.

Key capabilities supporting NIS 2 compliance for the agri-food sector:

  • Zero Trust architecture based on “never trust, always verify” principles.

  • Context-aware access control granting access based on the user’s identity, role, and task at a specific moment.

  • Protection of privileged accounts with Zero Standing Privilege and Just-in-Time access.

  • Robust access infrastructure that prevents unauthorized intrusion.

  • Secure, unified access for employees, third parties, and industrial operators without compromising productivity.

Password Management

Password rotation or one-time-use credentials

Credential Exposure Control

Credentials are not disclosed to end users

Secure Authentication

Enforcement of secure authentication practices

Fast to deploy and simple to operate, cyberelements enables agri-food organizations to align with NIS 2 requirements. Enhancing security, maintaining operational efficiency, and ensuring regulatory compliance across all systems.

The most efficient way to experience its value is to try it yourself. Click “Start Now,” and in just three minutes, you can begin configuring the platform and fast-track your path to compliance.

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