When you think of the most targeted industries for ransomware, would you think that manufacturing would be at the top of the list? You should, because cyber attackers have been setting their sights (and attacks) on manufacturing organizations with more frequency.
With the average cost of a data breach in manufacturing rising to $4.47M in 2022, according to IBM, cyber criminals continue to target manufacturers for the following reasons, among others:
- Downtime from a ransomware incident is a non-starter for most organizations, therefore manufacturers are much more likely to pay the ransom and not go back and forth on negotiations
- Outdated/legacy infrastructure (especially from an operational technology perspective) creates challenges in being able to verify and secure access
- The amount of third parties that manufacturers work with and who access systems remotely widens the attack surface for cyber criminals
That last bullet point can create headaches for any manufacturer. Though working with third parties is a necessary action for manufacturers, it can leave questions about how access to those systems is being used without the proper visibility and controls in place. All it takes is for a hacker to find a loose end, and they can be off to the races.
With hundreds or even thousands of third parties working with manufacturers and accessing systems, it leaves cyber criminals with a lot of space to find vulnerabilities and deploy ransomware weapons within your systems!
Because of this, it’s critical for an organization to understand who has access to privileged credentials and what they are doing with those credentials. LRS has years of experience helping customers develop a Privileged Access Management (PAM) strategy specific to their business and business needs. We can help teams identify all their privileged accounts (service, application, administrator & root accounts), store them in a centralized vault, ensure that passwords for those accounts are complex and changed frequently, and be able to monitor sessions where privileged credentials are used.
Attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and frequent, give yourself a solid fist line of defense by protecting your privileged credentials. If you need help getting started, please get in contact with us!
About the author
Patrick Dolan is an IBM Security Software Specialist with LRS IT Solutions. He combines his knowledge of security software with a passion for helping companies safeguard their operations.