An estimated 48 percent of UK manufacturers have suffered a cyberattack at some point with half of them incurring financial losses or disruption to their business. By: Hadi Hosn
Secureworks® research shows that manufacturing is one of the three most targeted industries when it comes to cyberattacks. The UK manufacturers’ association EEF estimates that 48 percent of manufacturing companies have been subject to a cybersecurity incident at some point with half of those organisations suffering financial losses or disruption to their business. Cyber criminals are looking to steal blueprints, new technologies or designs to gain a competitive advantage and sell products at a lower price. Manufacturers are also increasingly attractive because of how vulnerable and exposed their IT systems are to infections. For a long time, manufacturers have put their efforts into protecting operational environment and have overlooked the importance of securing their IT systems. This makes cybersecurity a challenge not only for the IT department but also for the senior leadership team of the company.
Having the right and effective cyber defences is vital as this is now becoming one of the requirements within written contractual agreements for manufacturers. In addition, the European Union and individual countries are rapidly advancing and enforcing their own cyber laws which will put manufacturers under even more pressure. If this isn’t enough, manufacturers need to remember that if the production line stops due to a cyberattack, the impact can be catastrophic with millions of pounds in lost revenue.
The technology industry is moving faster every day, bringing with it an evolution of the threats that manufacturing leaders face, and they need to catch up fast. Threat actors are constantly evolving and improving their skills, they are becoming better resourced, and manufacturers can no longer ignore the threat. The complexity of cyber awareness which was previously often used as a defence when a major cyberattack occurs, are not acceptable anymore and manufacturers have to put the right and effective procedures in place to avoid hefty losses.
You can read more about the challenges that manufacturing industry faces in today’s cybersecurity environment, who poses the highest threat and how can leaders protect their organisations in our recent article on Manufacturing Global.
