The manufacturing industry is a large and diverse part of the global economy. It is rapidly changing and is a massive target for cybercriminals. Because of this, risk management strategies are needed. Keep reading this post for a comprehensive guide to cybersecurity risk management for manufacturing companies.
According to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024, 25% of global cyber attacks were targeted at manufacturing industries in 2023, being the most targeted industry for the third year in a row. In the modern manufacturing industry, companies face several risks that can negatively impact their operations, profitability, and reputation.
These security risks are more complex to manage than ever. Manufacturing companies must adopt robust risk management strategies. Cybersecurity risk management is an ongoing process of identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and addressing an organization’s cybersecurity threats.
The Four-Step Cybersecurity Risk Management Process For Manufacturing Companies
Cybersecurity risk management is everyone’s responsibility in the manufacturing industry, not just the security team. As documented by KnowBe4’s report, 37.5% of employees in large manufacturing organizations clicked on phishing links. Hence, cybersecurity risk management must be taken seriously by all. It often involves a four-step process. Here are the four steps of cybersecurity risk management for the manufacturing industry.
Identify Cybersecurity Risks
According to Gartner, IT risk is the potential for an unplanned, negative business outcome involving the failure or misuse of IT. Cybersecurity risks to the manufacturing industry involve a wide range of cyber threats, including ransomware attacks, phishing attacks, the Internet of Things (IoT), and supply chain vulnerabilities. IT risk management explores the odds of an existing threat exploiting a vulnerability and what the consequences will be. Risk identification is the first step in understanding threats, vulnerabilities, and the consequences they can have on your manufacturing company in the case of their convergence.
Assess Cybersecurity Risks
Cybersecurity risk assessment presents ample opportunity to emphasize how critical security is across your manufacturing organization. It allows your team to practice communication and cooperation, vital risk management skills. Assessing the level of risk to your manufacturing company is an essential step that helps to clarify your company’s risk level. You can start by naming all assets and prioritizing their importance. Then, identify all possible threats and vulnerabilities in your environment. You must address all known vulnerabilities at this point. Next, determine the likelihood of a threat ever happening and conduct an impact analysis to estimate its potential consequences and cost to your manufacturing company. Finally, your resulting risk determination will guide your risk management decisions and response measures.
Identify Possible Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation Measures
Identifying and assessing risks are the initial processes of risk management. You must do something about the risk, including a mitigation response. This third step starts by understanding all your options for risk mitigation. Risk mitigation for your manufacturing company can involve either technological or best practice methods or a combination. Technological risk mitigation measures include encryption, firewalls, threat-hunting software, and automation for efficiency. Best practices include training programs, Privileged Access Management (PAM), software updates, multi-factor access authentication, and dynamic data backup.
Use On-going Monitoring
In an ideal world, identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to your manufacturing company would have been sufficient. However, cybersecurity risks to the manufacturing industry are constantly evolving. Therefore, your security team must constantly monitor environments to ensure internal controls remain aligned with risk. Your manufacturing company should monitor regulatory change, vendor risk, and internal IT usage.
How Support Link Technologies Can Help Manufacturing Companies With Privileged Access Management (PAM)
Support Link Technologies provides Privileged Access Management (PAM) by BeyondTrust, one of the best practices for mitigating cybersecurity risks. PAM involves strategies for exerting control over elevated access and permissions for identities, users, accounts, and processes across your manufacturing company’s IT environment. PAM can help your manufacturing company minimize its cyber attack surface and prevent potential damage from cyber-attacks and insider threats.
Conclusion
The manufacturing industry is a massive part of the global economy. However, recent technological advancements have led to an increased surface of cybersecurity risk. Therefore, manufacturing companies must implement cybersecurity risk measures to mitigate potential risks. This blog post is a comprehensive guide to cybersecurity risk management for manufacturing companies and how Support Link Technologies can help your business with Privileged Access Management, a cybersecurity solution for mitigating risk. Contact us today to book a discovery session and learn more about our services and customized training programs.