Cyber threats to the Manufacturing Industry

After the healthcare sector, manufacturing is the second most vulnerable industry for cyber attacks.

The main reason for this position being given to these particular sectors is because of their refusal to invest in better and stronger technology to prevent cyber threats.

A look at the past year confirms the fact that cyber threats have become a menace to the manufacturing industry. According to recent studies, these threats are causing huge losses in this sector.

Cyber threats have always been a cause of concern for computers, smartphones, and networks. Today their targets even include power grids, humans, cars and sometimes even railways and planes.

The technological advancement in the industrial sector is unprecedented. Along with this advancement comes the use of various software. While these applications are definitely helpful, they can also open up a huge trunk of information for the cyber thieves.

A slow realisation is creeping into the manufacturing sector. A recent study revealed that they have started to increase their spending on defensive software against cyber attacks. So, what are the threats the manufacturing industry is facing today?

IoT

A fresh weapon - Mirai botnet - made its way into TV reports in 2016 because it successfully conducted the largest cyber attack. Many well-known giants including Reddit, Netflix, and Twitter were at risk.

Mirai botnet achieved a distinction from others by making use of the IoT devices. Since many of the IoT devices have easily hackable passwords and are used by a large number of people, the Mirai botnet had an easy time in getting access to the information.

IoT’s have a very open system and the cost of a cyber attack can be huge. Manufacturers must make sure that the product design has all the necessary security measures.

IP theft

There have been more and more cases of IP theft being reported in the past few years. Techniques of social engineering are used by the cyber attackers. The using these techniques means that the employees of a company are the most vulnerable victims.

Cyber attackers can easily find a way around the old network security defences by using social media or by sending mail from personal addresses.

Admin position can be obtained by posing as a superior or even blackmailing the particular employee.

To tackle this, they need to start from the corporate network and then spread to other areas. The employees should also be provided with adequate training about the kinds of threats they are exposed to.

Lack of skilled labour

When you see the increasing amount of cyber attacks and the number of professionals able to tackle the situation, there is an imbalance. The manufacturing industry has a severe shortage of skilled cyber professionals.

With these threats looming over their heads, the manufacturing industry is not in a position to handle this shortage. The aim is to hire those who have good qualifications, like the CISSP (gold standard).

If you have all the security measures ready but you do not have a professional to help, then, sorry to say it, you are doomed.

Keeping in mind everything we’ve said, it is clearly necessary that the manufacturing industry invests some time and money into cyber security issues.