Small and Mid-Size Manufacturers Are More Vulnerable to a Cybersecurity Event

Small and mid-size manufacturers are more vulnerable to a cybersecurity event as they often are less prepared, may have unprotected valuable information, are willing to pay ransoms to avoid costly disruptions, and act as entry points to other valuable targets. The word “cybersecurity” can be intimidating, but efficiently managing risks to your data, information, and technology assets is a foundational aspect of effectively operating a business.

Many businesses only begin to look at cybersecurity and privacy when it is required by a customer, or they experience an incident such as a data breach or ransomware attack. Don’t wait until it’s too late. The sooner you start managing these risks, the better able you will be to cost-effectively adapt and comply with industry requirements and respond if an incident does happen.

Since manufacturers often have less complex operational needs and IT/OT infrastructures, they may be able to quickly take some basic steps to defend their information and systems, such as:

• Maintaining patches and updates;
• Performing user awareness training; and
• Implementing multi-factor authentication.

Even small cybersecurity steps like these can greatly decrease the likelihood and/or impact of a cyber-attack. But how do you know what to do first?

The adage “one size fits all” is not true for manufacturers.

Determining the type of security assessment that is needed can be very confusing. Cybersecurity is high on the agendas of audit committees and executive leadership because cybercrime is a serious issue that threatens companies across many industries, especially those that are internet-facing. Regardless of company size, security breaches result in reputational damage and material business disruption.

The importance of building a cybersecurity roadmap

To reduce cybersecurity risk for manufacturers, UHY Consulting utilizes the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) for building a roadmap that is aligned with manufacturing sector goals and industry best practices. This manufacturing profile provides a risk-based approach for managing cybersecurity activities and reducing cyber risk to manufacturing systems.