Manufacturing

According to the 2021 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR), there was a 300% increase in cybercrimes for the manufacturing category in a single year. The manufacturing moved from the 8th most targeted to the number 2 most targeted only behind finance and insurance. As in the engineering sector, hackers may demand ransomware to release your data or they may quietly access and steal your data without you being aware of it until much later. They may also use phishing schemes to get quicker pay-offs hoping an employee will send money as requested by a bogus invoice. Any manufacturing company having business ties to the government such as with the DoD are subject to cyberattacks from nation-states either to gain military secrets or even from friendly nations seeking advantageous information. Another way cyber threats are levied is by attacking companies that target multiple groups at once in order to affect the supply chain. These types of attacks are becoming increasingly more widespread. Access can be through not only the company itself but also through partners and suppliers. Supply chain attacks are extremely effective because not only may the main company be forced to shut down operations but each company they interact with is also similarly affected. Hackers also use malware such as Stuxnet or Triton that interrupts operational technology software which in turn could lead to catastrophic industrial failure with the potential of harming many people.