Cybersecurity Best Practices for Manufacturing

Cybersecurity Best Practices for Manufacturing

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INTRODUCTION As more and more manufacturing activities transition onto digital platforms, such as automation, business communication, invoicing, machine programming, and warehousing, the stakes of cybersecurity become higher and higher. Although it can be intimidating to start implementing cybersecurity practices, it is of the utmost importance. The good news is that many cybersecurity practices are easy to implement and can be effective deterrents for bad actors that are looking for the weakest link. So, let’s cover the basics of what cybersecurity is, an overview of the average cost of cybersecurity attacks, best practices, and cybersecurity insurance tips to keep your business protected.

37% of Manufacturing Companies Are Moderately Confident About Their Company’s Cybersecurity How confident do you feel about your company’s cybersecurity?

The Cost of Cyberattacks Cyberattacks cost much more than just a ransom payment. Attacks interrupt daily business operations, damage reputations, cause deliverability issues, and much more. If your company executives aren’t serious about cybersecurity, here are some things to consider: In a typical cyberattack, it takes 24 - 48 hours for someone to detect the threat. By that point, there is usually already destruction of data, corruption of applications, and corruption of data assets, which can impact recording systems, client lists, and manufacturing systems. To get back on track, companies have to consider the following: • Hiring a third-party forensics firm to negotiate with the threat actor • Hiring a privacy legal counsel to investigate the matter • Contractual liabilities if unable to deliver goods or services within a timely manner • Regulatory liabilities if the business is in an industry with applicable privacy regulations • Impact from a plaintiff’s attorney association if it relates to breaches of employee or customer data

“The average downtime from a ransomware attack is now over two weeks.” — David Anderson, VP, Head of Major Accounts, Lockton Northeast Cyber Technology, Lockton

Additionally, the average downtime from a ransomware attack is over two weeks. This means that at every factory, human resources, accounting, and employees from other departments will not have access to their emails, network, or facilities for that time contributing to loss of income. Although the reputation factor is hard to quantify, no person or company is proud of a breach of security. It’s suspected that among the sea of cyberattack headlines, there are many more incidents that go completely unreported, even to the insurance companies, to avoid the media exposure and customer backlash. Cyberattacks are not just a ransom payment anymore. They cause a lasting impact to balance sheets and reputations. Real-world Cyberattack Claims To help quantify the effects of a cyberattack, here are estimated costs of some of the most publicly known breaches that have impacted Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies:

What Is Cybersecurity? In short, cybersecurity is the practice of protecting your networks, hardware, and data from digital attacks. These attacks usually work to gain sensitive information or access in order to extort money from the business under attack. Cybersecurity helps to deter these attacks and keep businesses safe and trusted by customers. Platform Resiliency Platform resilience requires businesses to adapt to change while ensuring the safety of its business and customer data, which is essentially the goal of cybersecurity. To achieve this, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States, and their counterpart in Europe, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), defines five advised functions to provide risk management: 1. Create an Indelible Device Identity Each ecosystem element needs a unique, intrinsic identity. 2. Protect Limit the ability of an advisory to cause a threat. Although no security measures will ever provide 100% protection, we do want to create a substantial deterrent. 3. Detect & Report In the case of a breach, you need to be able to detect and report it. 4. Respond Take action once a threat is detected. 5. Recover Restore the system back to functional capability, if possible. If the device is continually under attack, or if you feel the attack did something to harm the device, you may want to “brick” the system to save your ecosystem.

Creating a Robustly Secure System in Four Parts To create a robustly secure system you need all four parts: 1. Embedded Security Embedded security can be equated to the foundation of the house. It prevents harmful access to an embedded system such as a vehicle or security system. We will discuss embedded security, devices, and systems in more detail in chapter 4. 2. Secure Coding Techniques Even with the right hardware to support things, sloppy coding can leave you extremely vulnerable. Firmware and software must be developed effectively to ensure protection. 3. Security Monitoring Applications Security monitoring applications include security policies and procedures and software packages that defend systems against things like malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing. Although most threat actors exploit human behavior, not software gaps. 4. Physical Security Physical security is exactly as it sounds: it blocks unauthorized personnel from accessing or removing your system. Although important, it’s not always paramount because many systems are purchased and the user has complete physical access to them. This is important for situations where you might have a server farm.

USE A VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK (VPN) A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, can be used on desktops, tablets, and cell phones and allows for a secure and private connection through the internet. It provides a level of encryption to the data that’s exchanged and protects your internet traffic, which deters bad actors from intercepting it. It is especially important to have if you conduct business on public WiFi because unsecured networks are a common target for bad actors. Example: You’re in a doctor’s office waiting room and decide to answer some work emails while you wait. So, you connect to the public WiFi and get to work. Unknown to you, this network is compromised by a bad actor and they have already stolen your login information and are now reading your emails. Thankfully, VPNs are very simple to use, inexpensive, and there are many to choose from. For personal purposes, use a license with a few seats so you can put it on your phone, tablet, and computer. For businesses, look into commercial plans to cover company phones and computers.