Why Should Manufacturing Companies Adopt Cybersecurity?

The article illustrates how cyber attacks are affecting the manufacturing industry.

- Shibu Paul

A cybersecurity attack can have a significant financial impact on any business, and manufacturing is no longer an exception. Cyber attacks can cause a manufacturing company to lose sensitive data, fail to fulfil customer orders, and close one or more plants. Many attacks involve intellectual property theft, implying a competitor can use that information to launch a better product without investing in research. It could also lead to a loss of market share or push the manufacturer out of business. It is also possible for severe attacks to permanently damage a manufacturer’s equipment and plants.

How are manufacturing companies being affected?

Unlike other industries, the manufacturing industry has long been unaffected by cyber attacks, but the trajectory changed a few years ago. There were two main reasons for this: their lack of connectivity with the outside world served as a comfortable barrier against cyberattacks, and their perception that they had little to offer cyber attackers.

Earlier manufacturing companies used to be interconnected within a single organisation. The connection with the outside world via the internet was negligible. On the other hand, the financial and medical industries have always been connected, making them ideal targets for hackers.

But with technology evolving and Industry 4.0 coming into the picture for the manufacturing industry, the old ways of communication no longer work. Manufacturing firms are now subject to the same threats as other industries. So, the lack of awareness and the series of possible vulnerabilities through enormous endpoints make manufacturing companies susceptible to hackers.