Cyber-attacks rising in the manufacturing sector

As the manufacturing industry becomes better connected, the frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks is rising. Research from the Global Threat Intelligence Centre analysing Q2 of this year has been released by NTT Security, and identifies trending threats as well as offering tips and tactics for staying ahead of hackers.

The following four discoveries are of the most interest within the manufacturing industry:

• Cyber-attacks rose 24% globally during Q2
• Manufacturers are a key target for cybercriminals
• 67% of malware attacks were delivered by phishing emails
• The speed of attacks continues to increase once proof of concept code is released

Jon Heimerl, Manager, Thread Intelligence Communication Team, NTT Security said:

“Our Global Threat Intelligence Centers are constantly monitoring cyber activities on a global scale and providing us with great insight as to which industries cybercriminals are targeting, why they’re targeting these areas, and how they may do so moving forward. This latest GTIC 2017 Q2 Threat Intelligence Report documents that hackers continue to target the manufacturing sector, which should be a red flag for CISOs across this market segment.” 

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34% of all documented attacks targeted manufacturers. “This is no coincidence,” continued Heimerl. “The motivations for these attacks are often criminal in nature, including extortion via ransomware, industrial espionage, and theft of data such as account numbers. What poses an even greater problem is that when these breaches are successful, yet go undetected, they allow hackers to establish footholds in organisations’ networks where they have free reign to wreak havoc over extended periods.

“This is a problem if we consider that 37% of manufacturers recently surveyed indicated they do not have an incident response plan in place. This is very concerning as manufacturers’ IT security liabilities often impacted not just the manufacturing organisations, but suppliers, as well as related industries and consumers.”

The upside to this doom and gloom is that NTT is able to offer better strategic and comprehensive cyber-attack detection and prevention services. It now boasts an extensive portfolio of IT security services which can be applied independently or in different combinations, enabling customers to create a package specific to their needs.

Download the Global Threat Intelligence Center (GTIC) 2017 Q2 Threat Intelligence Report here.