What to consider
Manufacturing has entered the 4th industrial revolution where the old, complex and formerly closed environments, solutions and systems meet new, connected and more open ones. This offers immense possibilities for the manufacturing industry, and every manufacturer should reap the benefits of these innovative solutions to power performance and make their business more successful. Now manufacturers find themselves with many questions around cybersecurity, like, what is the near-term role of cybersecurity in this age of rapid development in manufacturing? Is there a risk that cyber security will be bypassed at this speed of change, and all the benefits of the new solutions reduced? Is there a risk that business benefits of the connected world remain unfulfilled for manufacturers because of cyber security incidents? What specifically within cybersecurity should manufacturers prioritize, and how is this seen by decision makers and industry professionals? Also for many manufacturers the reality of meeting new compliance regulations will be one of their top cybersecurity objectives.
Cloud concerns
The manufacturing industry is under constant pressure to increase productivity, make time-to-market a competitive differentiator, and optimizes their supply chain, distribution, and customer relationships. The cloud enables businesses to streamline operations and better compete at all levels. However, with more and more cloud and web services, it’s important to understand and manage the risks that can come with the cloud. From supplier contracts to business plans to product plans to intellectual property and trade secrets, the unintentional or intentional exposure of data can have a negative impact on your business. Without visibility and control across SaaS, IaaS, and web, manufacturers can’t govern usage to ensure protection of that data. To ensure cloud security in your organization, CloudGRC empowers you to understand what cloud and web services are in use and how they are being used, enforce access controls, protect sensitive data, and restrict risky activities.
Target-rich environment
86% of cyberattacks in manufacturing are targeted, with financial gain and industrial espionage split evenly as the main motives behind cyberattacks on the manufacturing industry. More than 30 percent of data breaches at manufacturing companies last year involved the theft of intellectual property. Attackers are after a certain goal and keep chasing it persistently. They may perform in-depth research and attempt intruding several systems before anything is noticed. The complexity of manufacturing facilities and systems adds challenge to cyber security. For an attacker the manufacturing environment has many opportunities to exploit as there are several loopholes available for probing. The impact is that any disruption to systems or compromised data will disrupt company operations at a significant cost. Consider how many hours, or days, production might be halted by the disruption of just a single system. How much damage could a hacker or competitor do if it got its hands on your intellectual property – if someone got the schematics for your product, then turned around and manufactured it at a reduced cost decreasing your profits or even worse. The key for manufacturers is to be cybersecurity aware and prepared. While technology is essential to evolving the manufacturing process and increasing profitability, it has also created evolving and more challenging cybersecurity threats. Addressing cybersecurity before an incident occurs is an integral part of protecting a manufacturing facility and its personnel. CloudGRC develops a holistic approach to fight cyberattacks that includes prevention, detection, and reaction as well as feedback mechanisms.