While financial institutions, medical facilities, and even retail chains have been forced to face the dangers of cyber threats, manufacturing companies spent most of the last decade blissfully unaware of the likelihood of attack. The reasons for this were mostly two-fold. First, the very real lack of connection between manufacturing companies and the outside world created a comfortable barrier between cyberattacks and manufacturing companies. Second, manufacturing companies mistakenly believed they didn’t have much to offer cyber attackers.
In the past, manufacturing companies were connected within the network of a single organization, but a connection with the outside world through the internet was limited. Customer-facing businesses like those in the financial and medical industry didn’t have this barrier, making them an ideal target for hackers. However, as technology evolved, and industry 4.0 seeps into every corner of the manufacturing industry, this old way of communicating is obsolete. In today’s connected world, manufacturers are forced to utilize connectivity in a broad variety of ways. The combination of the industry’s lack of preparation and vast array of potential vulnerabilities through various endpoints makes manufacturing companies ideal targets for hackers.
The mistaken idea that manufacturing companies had little to offer was mostly baseless. While manufacturing companies aren’t in charge of large amounts of money or potentially risky financial transactions, they harbor a wealth of information that hackers can use to extort millions. For many manufacturing companies, learning their potential value has been an expensive lesson. As cybercrime against the manufacturing industry reaches maximum levels with no signs of slowing, these companies are forced to face the facts. Cybersecurity in the manufacturing industry is essential, and it should be utilized sooner rather than later.
If manufacturing companies were comfortable with the idea that they were safe from cyberattacks, this notion is quickly being erased. Awareness of the effects of industry 4.0 and the increase of cybercrime slowly came to light in 2017 and 2018. However, many companies in the industry remained unaware of the risks.
By 2021, the manufacturing sector reached the top 10 status as the 8th most targeted industry by cyber attackers. The problem exploded in 2020 when many companies were forced to depend almost entirely on remote workers due to pandemic restrictions. While most of the world was largely unprepared for the effects of COVID-19, cyber attackers were ready. The manufacturing industry moved from the 8th most targeted industry by cyber attackers to number 2, falling behind only finance and insurance. According to the 2022 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR), this represents a 300% increase in a single year.
