Cloud-based platforms centralize compute, storage, and management functions; this improves the overall economics of scalable deployments. For industrial IoT uses cases, however, cloud security must be architected while considering the unique time-sensitive characteristics of industrial applications, and must be in alignment with safety, reliability, and data privacy regulations. Figure 6.1 illustrates the various elements of an IIoT cloud security architecture, which spans from the industrial premises to centralized data centers where the cloud services are hosted:
Figure 6.1: Elements of an IIoT cloud security infrastructure
This security architecture has four main functional components.
