Manufacturing Under Siege: Fortify Cyber Defenses Now

Manufacturers face a perfect storm: near-zero tolerance for downtime, sprawling and complex supply chains, and priceless intellectual property to protect. Adversaries increasingly run multi-stage operations that mix technical exploits with social engineering and credential theft, staying undetected to map systems before striking. In a just-in-time world, even brief outages ripple across plants and partners.

Manufacturing in the crosshairs
IBM reports manufacturing was the most targeted industry worldwide last year, representing 26% of incidents and a striking 40% in APAC. Legacy systems and connected OT (industrial control systems, robotics) have widened the attack surface, giving determined threat actors more entry points.

• Most common initial access: exploits of public-facing apps, use of valid accounts, and external remote services
• Most observed actions: server access (16%) and malware-ransomware (16%) — aiming for disruption and extortion
• Biggest business impacts: extortion, data and credential theft, and reputational damage

Verizon adds that confirmed manufacturing breaches surged 89% year over year in 2025, with organizations under 1,000 employees making up over 90% of victims. Espionage-linked activity jumped to 20% of breaches (from 3%), with sensitive plans, reports, and emails most frequently stolen — signaling IP theft risks. Malware appeared in 66% of breaches (up from 50%), driven by ransomware and a preference for the "System Intrusion" threat pattern combining malware and hacking. The takeaway: manufacturers remain prime targets for sophisticated adversaries.

Cautionary tales

• A RomCom campaign exploited a WinRAR zero-day to quietly exfiltrate data from manufacturers, blending opportunism with espionage-grade tactics.
• Clorox (2023) suffered weeks of disruption and tens of millions in losses after vishing-enabled credential theft. The incident reportedly originated with an IT outsourcer’s human error — underscoring layered, third-party risk.

Build resilience, then add nonstop detection
Baseline controls reduce risk and limit blast radius:

• Multifactor authentication (MFA)
• Prompt patching
• Data encryption

Still, prevention alone isn’t enough. Manufacturers should enable continuous detection and response across email, cloud, servers, networks, and OT/IT environments. Large enterprises may staff an in-house SOC with XDR, but for many — especially SMBs that dominate victim counts — managed detection and response (MDR) is the fastest, most cost-effective path.

What MDR delivers

• 24/7/365 threat monitoring by expert analysts
• Lower total cost than building and maintaining a full SOC
• Proactive threat hunting to uncover stealthy adversaries
• Rapid detection, containment, and response to cut financial, reputational, and compliance risk
• Improved operational resilience to keep production running after an attack
• Actionable insights to harden defenses against repeat attempts

Why it matters: Seconds count
When attackers move, speed is everything. MDR accelerates early warning, triage, and containment so you can execute your incident response plan before damage spreads. Its continuous visibility across endpoints, networks, and cloud aligns with Zero Trust and strengthens security across your extended supply chain.

Use these insights to reassess exposure, validate controls, and choose a response model that keeps lines running — even when threats surge.

Source: WeLiveSecurity