Protecting Your Production Line: Why Cybersecurity Is Manufacturing’s New Frontline

Every machine on your factory floor represents not just production capacity, but a potential entry point for cybercriminals. As manufacturing evolves from human-powered to technology-driven, businesses face an invisible threat that can halt production, compromise proprietary designs, and damage hard-earned reputations—all with a single click. The financial toll? Potentially catastrophic.

Technology has revolutionized the manufacturing industry over the past few decades.  With labor shortages and rising costs, businesses have had to replace human workers with computers and robots.  With such an increase in the use of technology comes the increasing likelihood of cybersecurity attacks.  These attacks can be detrimental to businesses and can lead to substantial financial losses, customer attrition, damaged reputation, and on some occasions can lead to business closures.

Three types of common cybersecurity attacks for manufacturers include:

1. Ransomware – This is where an attacker infiltrates a computer system and can encrypt their production plan and machine control settings.  This could lead to the company being locked out of their operations and facing the possibility of having to pay a ransom to restore access.
2. Insider Threats – Employees are subject to phishing attacks which can lead to pertinent company information becoming compromised.  It only takes one employee to click on a hyperlink in a suspicious email for them to become a victim.  There are also instances where key employees who have access to sensitive information can intentionally or unintentionally leak, sell, or misuse that information.
3. Supply Chain Attacks – Manufacturers rely of a network of suppliers, partners, and vendors to deliver their raw materials, component parts and finished products.  Cybercriminals can gain access through someone in the supply chain through phishing emails which can lead to them accessing private networks and stealing sensitive information.

Does your business have the proper policies in place that outline clear guidelines for protecting your sensitive information?

Three ways your business can help with reducing your cybersecurity risk include:

1. Employee Training – Businesses should conduct employee training at least once a year, or as frequent as every four to six months.  This training should be tailored to real-life scenarios, including quizzes and simulations.  An ongoing way to conduct training would be to send out periodic phishing tests to identify any weak areas.
2. Password Management – It is not ideal for users to have the same passwords for multiple logins.  Require employees to use a mixture of letters (both upper and lower case), numbers and symbols.  The more complex the password or passphrase the harder it is for it to be deciphered and compromised.
3. Incident Response Plan – This is a structured procedure with a set of guidelines to help respond to a data breach, malware attack, or disruption.  It involves having a well-designed data backup and recovery plan.  Businesses should implement a strong data backup strategy to enable them to bring their system back online in a controlled manner with limited delays.

With the ever-increasing dependency on technology in the manufacturing industry, it is of the utmost importance to be aware of cybersecurity threats.  Most businesses come to a standstill if they have a data breach and do not have the proper procedures in place.  There are many steps manufacturers can take to prevent a cybersecurity breach.

For more information about cybersecurity for manufacturers, contact a member of HBK Manufacturing Solutions at 330-758-8613 or manufacturing@hbkcpa.com.