Processing's Weekly Mixer: Manufacturing’s cybersecurity crisis and more
Welcome to the latest installment of Processing's Weekly Mixer, which takes a look at the past week's interesting and informative coverage of the process industries from across EndeavorB2B brands.
This week, we feature content from Automation World, Control and Food Processing, in addition to recapping all of the content published to Processing during the course of the week.
— Jesse Osborne, Chief Editor
Cybersecurity crisis: Why third-party access may be manufacturers' biggest safety risk
From Automation World: Segura R&D and IT operations Lead, and International Society of Automation (ISA) member, Marcelo Pinto examines ransomware attacks across the manufacturing industries and outlines why suppliers may be the weakest security link and why identity security is increasingly the answer to this problem.
Pinto writes:
Manufacturing’s growing interconnectedness via the use of more global suppliers, digital production lines and the convergence of OT and IT have all helped to increase productivity. But they have also introduced new risks. As a result, security (cyber protection) and safety (physical protection) should no longer be viewed as two different realms.
These days, a compromised credential can have the same effect as a broken machine. It may halt a production line, reduce the quality of the final product or even endanger employees. Dragos reported 657 ransomware incidents against industrial organizations in the second quarter of 2025. Manufacturing represented 65% of those cases, clearly indicating that this industry has grown to be a prime target.
Digital solutions are optimizing LNG production
From Control: Liquified natural gas (LNG) occupies an essential role in the energy transition, and integrated digital solutions are essential to optimizing its production while also minimizing its carbon footprint.
EndeavorB2B's Keith Larson had a chance to sepak with Honeywell Connected Industrials director of consulting Srikanth Venkat about industry's transition from isolated point solutions to a comprehensive digital approach. Listen to their conversation below.
Food safety's back-and-forth 2025
From Food Processing: Dr. David Acheson, FDA's former associate commissioner for foods, looks back on all the zigging and zagging and the sweeping regulatory changes that came in 2025.
Acheson writes:
Last year about this time, I predicted that 2025 would be a year of change. While that certainly came to pass, especially at the federal food agencies, it was a mixed bag as to how much that change resulted in action or in impact on the food industry.
There was an entirely new administration with a sweeping change in ideology and significant personnel cuts and shuffling; and there was a heavy focus on eliminating artificial dyes, ultraprocessed foods and self-affirmed GRAS, all intended to Make America Healthy Again.
2026: The Food Industry’s Great Reformulation
FP Editor in Chief Dave Fusaro writes: "From regulatory and other government oversight issues to changing consumer trends to the financial health of food & beverage companies, there’s a lot of 2025 that needs to be resolved in 2026."
Read the full story here.
Recapping the week on Processing
Articles
Basics of circular vibratory screeners
The key features that underlie flowmeter accuracy
Podcast
Cyclopure, Kurita partner on single-step PFAS treatment
Company CEOs discuss DexSorb technology, molecular selectivity and a new Michigan regeneration facility accelerating PFAS removal across U.S. manufacturing and drinking water applications. Listen to the conversation below.