Protect yourselves! For the third time, manufacturing is the primary target of cyberattacks

Related Vendor

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

Germany's economy is largely based on an efficient manufacturing landscape. According to Graylog, this makes it important to protect it from cyberattacks.

The manufacturing industry encompasses many aspects in Germany, spreading across all sectors. From the automotive and electronics industries to mechanical engineering, aerospace, consumer goods manufacturing, crafts, as well as the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, manufacturing is essentially the backbone of society. This has been recognized by experts at Graylog, a company specializing in cybersecurity (SIEM, logistics management, and API systems) and ensuring smooth IT operations. However, the critical importance of manufacturing has also made this sector a prime target for cybercriminals. The IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Report notably highlights that over 25 percent of security incidents occur in the manufacturing industry, making it the main victim for the third consecutive year.

Utilize cybersecurity for efficiency gains

Manufacturers are under pressure from all sides. Rising demand is driving digitalization initiatives forward. At the same time, the risk of attacks has increased so significantly that regulatory bodies are holding manufacturers to higher standards. The new EU CRA (Cyber Resilience Act) legislation, which specifically targets manufacturers producing devices for the Internet of Things (IoT), could lead to potential costs of several million euros to meet these demands, according to Graylog. To gain a competitive edge, manufacturers need to change their approach to cybersecurity and use it to boost their efficiency. There needs to be a balance between IoT growth and cybersecurity within the framework of "smart" manufacturing. As manufacturing becomes smarter, companies are generating more data than ever before. Statista forecasts that the global volume of data will rise to 284 zettabytes by 2027, with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) playing a key role in this growth.

Third-party vendors are the entry points for cybercriminals

Through sensors, devices, servers, and endpoints used for tracking, managing, and controlling, these data are disseminated for bidirectional communication. However, as connectivity increases, so does the risk of falling victim to a cyber attack. The operational technologies connecting the IoT ecosystem to enhance supply chain management are also potential vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit to compromise security, operations, equipment, productivity, and, not least, budgets. Attackers often target software, cloud services, or other third-party providers to penetrate the supply chains of the manufacturing industry. For instance, a successful attack on just one third-party company could give hackers access to the personal data of multiple manufacturing clients. A report by Make UK identified that providing third parties with monitoring and maintenance access is the third most common reason for a cyber incident.