Cyberattacks Manufacturers Should Watch For
Ransomware often gets all the headlines in the cybersecurity news because of the huge sums of money being demanded from some of the largest companies to get victimized. However, there are plenty of other attacks that can bring a company down, especially in the manufacturing industry.
Here’s a handful of cyberattacks that can cause a great deal of trouble specifically in the manufacturing industry:
- Internal breaches – A majority of cyberattacks are from external malicious actors. However, almost 30 percent of attacks come from inside, from either your own employees or personnel with access to your IT infrastructure. The reasons for these attacks range from financial motivation to anger or dissatisfaction with the company. The increased use of personal devices and remote work has also bumped up the potential for internal breaches. For hackers, home networks and the use of personal devices with limited security provide a new way to access sensitive data from companies of all sizes.
- Equipment as targets – Operational technology devices aren’t anything new, but they just recently began linking externally to technology through modern communication systems. In the past, these machines didn’t need cybersecurity measures to protect them from external forces – and the industry hasn’t kept up with updating them with such protection.
- Stealing of intellectual property – The stealing of customer data is what typically makes headlines, but the theft of intellectual property (IP) could shake an organization to its core. This is especially true for the manufacturing industry, where a company’s IP is what differentiates you from your competition. Hackers could potentially steal or alter your IP without detection until your trade secrets are out there for the taking.
- Attacks on the supply chain – As the supply chain becomes more digitized, manufacturers need to be confident that their vendors and partners take cybersecurity as seriously as they do. Manufacturers need to be careful with the financial, intellectual and operational information you share with your partners. This is to avoid having the data used to access private networks and steal information. Also, you need to perform background checks on your potential partners to measure their trustworthiness as well as the reliability of the third parties they use.
- IoT attacks – Because of their exposure to the internet, Internet of Things devices pose a significant risk for cyberattacks. Manufacturers need to be careful with the connectivity of their IoT devices and limit how much they connect to other company systems for this reason.
Is your cybersecurity perimeter able to defend your organization from such attacks? If you’re unsure, it’s time to partner with 2W Tech. We’re a technology services provider with IT consultants on staff who specialize in solutions for the manufacturing industry. Call us today so we can strengthen your cybersecurity posture.
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