As humanity enters the fourth industrial revolution, the manufacturing sector is undergoing enormous and rapid transformations. These transformations are marked by innovation, productivity, efficiency improvements, and unanticipated new dangers. Understanding the cybersecurity threats faced by this industry can aid businesses in identifying critical vulnerabilities and developing cybersecurity measures to better protect their crucial systems.
What are the cybersecurity risks facing the manufacturing industry?
Some manufacturers may not have an advanced cybersecurity procedure, but every manufacturer should know their company’s five most significant cybersecurity risks. Familiarizing yourself and your staff with them decreases potential dangers and allows you to gain insights on innovative manufacturing concepts.
Identity Theft
When hackers use the SSNs of victims to apply for loans or credit lines, identity theft occurs. When it comes to the manufacturing industry, problems arise when hackers use malware to penetrate a customer database and access client data, which can be used to commit identity theft.
Phishing
Phishing occurs when attackers create deceptive emails and use them to trick recipients into divulging important information such as passwords. These letters usually contain branded letterheads or other equivalent components to convince recipients of their trustworthiness. With generic greetings like “Dear valued customer,” phishing emails appeal to a large audience.
Spear Phishing
Spear phishing is a class of phishing that targets an individual or a specific department. These targeted messages are more personalized and relevant to the receiver than the previously described phishing attempts. For instance, a partner from the accounting department might receive a spear phishing email on a certain invoice or tax form.
Some spear phishing campaigns may pose as a corporate executive and request credentials for entering into the industrial control systems of a corporation (ICS). If an organization invests in identity and access management (IAM) solutions, it may be able to lower the success rate of spear phishing emails.
Assume that a spear phishing email recipient receives a request from someone acting as the CEO of a corporation that uses IAM, for instance. The true CEO should be aware of the access restrictions the phishing email would circumvent, so this individual will likely believe something is amiss.
Spam
Spam messages are annoying to the normal individual, but they can substantially influence manufacturing operations’ efficiency. A South African Dunlop Industrial factory’s IT personnel had to manually sort through 12,000 spam emails daily, which took up to 90 minutes and prevented them from engaging in more productive endeavors.
In this instance, the company deployed a mail service solution that screened messages for spam and malware before they were delivered to user inboxes, thereby preventing them from reaching employee inboxes.
However, there will always be an element of human judgment that can be learned on the most popular training courses for the manufacturing industry. It is not always feasible to distinguish between a spam message and one from a legitimate customer or supplier, making spam an ongoingly challenging issue.
Vulnerable Websites
Website hacking occurs when hackers take control of a cybersecurity framework manufacturing profile and either render it inoperable or fill it with bogus content to deceive customers. Without the awareness of site users, hackers may insert programs that secretly install harmful files on their computers. These incidents can cause irreparable harm to the reputations of the implicated industrial companies.
Conclusion
As a result of technical advancements, the manufacturing industry has expanded substantially. Organizations are no longer restricted to typical offline routines but are transitioning substantially to robust online activities. Consequently, their security is more susceptible to compromise. Consequently, manufacturers must be aware of the cybersecurity threats they face. They must also be able to cope with threats and manage unanticipated risks.