A record number of robots now work in factories

A record four million robots are operating in factories worldwide, a symbolic threshold in automation that is also raising cybersecurity concerns.

China is the world’s largest market for factory robots, according to the International Federation of Robotics, representing 51% of global installations in 2023, a result that the Harvard International Review pinned on China’s aging population and declining birth rate, requiring automation to fill labor gaps.

But factory robots are “easy targets” for hackers who can steal product designs, disrupt production lines, or even cause physical harm, an expert warned in IoT World Today, urging manufacturers to “treat their robotic workforce with the same security attention they give to traditional IT.”