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Cybersecurity has not been a major concern for manufacturing companies traditionally. However, this is starting to change, since cybercriminals are realizing that companies in this sector actually have a lot to offer. So how exactly are manufacturing companies targeted by these attacks?
Phishing attacks
Phishing is a very old tactic used by cybercriminals. Basically, the attacker impersonates a person or a business, and then tries to gain access to privileged information or to the network itself. This attack is unfortunately still very effective, and once the attacker gains access to a network using phishing, it can take a long while to detect his activity.
Not only that, but manufacturing companies are uniquely vulnerable to this type of attack. This is due to several factors, including:
- The lack of preparation in the industry
- Most manufacturing companies use software that is not connected to the outside world, which makes this attack that much more unexpected
- There are many interconnected companies along the supply chain
- Hackers often have access to employee and executive names
Ransomware
Most cyberattacks target financial and sensitive information, which can then be sold to other parties. However, a new trend is becoming more prominent – ransomware. Ransomware is malware that compromises a network or a system, making it unusable, until the demands of the attackers are met. We’ve seen these attacks recently on critical infrastructure in the US. This type of attack is particularly effective against manufacturing companies, because any amount of downtime can result in enormous costs, so paying the ransom makes sense from a financial perspective.
Internal breaches
Most cyberattacks are launched by external actors, but about 30% come from the inside of a company, and they are perpetrated either by employees or by personnel that can access the company’s software systems. As with most attacks, there is a financial motivation here as well, but some employees may act out of dissatisfaction or anger with the company. These attacks are very insidious because the threat actor does not need to breach any network or system in order to gain access to sensitive data.
So how can you protect yourself against all these attacks? Well, there are two main options – either build an in-house cybersecurity team, or outsource the security process to a third party. The first option can be quite expensive for smaller to medium companies, and even large companies might have a hard time justifying the cost. The latter option allows you to budget cybersecurity capabilities specifically tailored to your company. If you would like to know more, contact us today with any questions you may have.