Guest Editorial: Special Section on Security and Privacy in Industry 4.0

The papers in this special section focuses on security and privacy in industry. Industries, governments, and scientific communities are increasingly drawing special attention to competitive advantages that Industry 4.0 can bring to business sustainability and economy of a country. The tendency to couple information technologies (ITs) with the existing operational technologies (OTs) adds new opportunities to improve and optimize operational processes, products, and services in which multiple stakeholders (e.g., end-users) can interact with the new industrial ecosystems to speed up and customize processes. In this sense, Industry 4.0 constitutes a relevant investment source composed of a complex technological showcase in which multiple connections and accesses can arise, seriously impacting on the good performance of the different production and distribution chains associated with smart factories and manufacturing, smart grid systems, smart transportation, or smart health environments.