Manufacturing Guide to IT

What You Will Find on This Page

• The 3 Things Hackers Target
• Podcast Clips and Episodes
• Cybersecurity 101: NIST and CIS Controls
• Downtime Cost Calculator
• Cybersecurity FAQs
• Top 3 Initial Access Trends
• IT Support vs. Cybersecurity: What Is the Difference?
• Supply Chain Compliance Requests and C-SCRM
• Your Employees Will Click a Bad Link Eventually
• Contact Us

The 3 Things Hackers Target

Hackers do not break in for fun. They do it for profit. Manufacturers are targeted because they rely on uptime and valuable data.

Cybersecurity 101

When cybersecurity comes up in manufacturing, the conversation is rarely comfortable. The reality is that criminals are actively trying to disrupt operations, cause downtime, and create financial pressure. Preparing for those threats can feel overwhelming, especially when production schedules and safety are on the line.

The good news is that there are practical ways to fight back. Understanding how attacks happen and what to watch for can help reduce risk and give you confidence that your operation is prepared.

The first step is knowing what you have. Cybersecurity starts with understanding the systems and equipment you rely on, and where vulnerabilities tend to exist. For example, many organizations assume a VPN automatically means secure remote access, but VPNs have had numerous critical vulnerabilities over time. If you want a deeper comparison, read SASE vs. VPN: Which Is Better for Cybersecurity in 2025.

There is no one size fits all approach to cybersecurity in manufacturing. Every operation has a different tolerance for risk, downtime, and disruption. Some manufacturers must meet strict requirements, such as CMMC for certain government contracts, while others are not formally regulated.

Even if compliance is not required, an important question remains: what is the minimum level of cybersecurity your business should have?

That is where our process begins, with a short conversation to understand your environment, production dependencies, and risk exposure. From there, we determine whether a cybersecurity audit or risk assessment is the right next step to identify gaps and priorities.

Whether you work with us or not, we recommend aligning with proven frameworks like CIS Controls v8.1 and NIST to reduce the likelihood of downtime, financial loss, and operational disruption.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 is commonly explained through six practical functions:

• Govern: Set expectations and accountability tied to business risk.
• Identify: Understand the systems, machines, and data that must be protected.
• Protect: Put safeguards in place that reduce the odds and impact of an attack.
• Detect: Spot abnormal activity early, before production is affected.
• Respond: Contain incidents quickly to limit damage and downtime.
• Recover: Restore operations and reduce the chance of repeat disruption.

Downtime Cost Calculator

On average, how much does downtime cost? Downtime is often estimated between $1,000 and $10,000 per hour. Use this tool to estimate your potential impact based on your specific operation.

Top 5 Questions About Cybersecurity

Now that you know what hackers are typically after, the next step is understanding the questions business leaders like you are asking. We’ve outlined the top five cybersecurity questions we hear most often from small and mid-sized manufacturers.

1. Are our backups safe from ransomware?

Only if they are:

• Offline or immutable, meaning they cannot be changed
• Separated from your main network
• Monitored and tested regularly
• Protected by multi factor authentication

If backups are always online and accessible, attackers often delete or encrypt them first.

2. How would we know if we have been hacked?

In many cases, manufacturers do not know right away. Attackers can remain hidden for weeks or months.

Common warning signs include:

• Unrecognized logins or password resets
• Suspicious emails sent from internal accounts
• Slow or unstable systems on the plant floor
• Security alerts from Microsoft or Google
• New admin accounts no one recognizes

3. What are our biggest cybersecurity risks right now?

For most manufacturers, the highest risk comes from fundamentals:

• Phishing emails that steal credentials
• Weak or reused passwords
• No multi factor authentication on remote or administrative access
• Unpatched systems, including systems tied to operations
• Remote access exposed to the internet
• Human error in the office or on the plant floor

4. Is antivirus enough to protect our business?

No. Antivirus alone is not sufficient.

Many modern attacks use stolen credentials and legitimate system tools.

A stronger baseline includes:

• Multi factor authentication
• Email security
• Endpoint protection and endpoint detection and response
• Secure backups
• Continuous monitoring

5. What is the minimum cybersecurity we should have in place?

Every manufacturer should have at least:

• Multi factor authentication on email, VPN, and cloud systems
• Secure email filtering
• Endpoint protection plus endpoint detection and response
• Patch management
• Ransomware safe backups
• Firewall and network segmentation
• Phishing awareness training
• Monitoring and alerting
• A documented incident response plan
• A trusted IT and security partner

Top 3 Initial Access Trends

Most cyber incidents begin the same way. Attackers get a first foothold, then expand access until they can steal data, disrupt operations, or demand payment.

How are attackers getting in?

1. Phishing Emails and Stolen Credentials

What it looks like:

• Fake Microsoft 365, DocuSign, SharePoint, or voicemail messages
• Emails that appear to come from vendors, coworkers, or executives
• Business Email Compromise (BEC), when a trusted contact’s account is taken over and used to send realistic requests
• Links that lead to convincing login pages designed to capture usernames and passwords

Why it works:

• It targets people, not technology
• One click can expose valid credentials
• If multi factor authentication is not enabled, attackers often log in immediately

What happens next:

• Email takeover and inbox rules used to hide activity
• Access to cloud apps, file shares, and financial workflows
• Invoice fraud, data theft, and ransomware staging

2. Weak or Compromised Passwords Without MFA

What it looks like:

• Reused passwords from prior breaches
• Password spraying, trying common passwords across many accounts
• Exposed remote access such as VPN portals, RDP, or cloud logins

Why it works:

• Many organizations still rely on passwords alone
• Stolen credentials are widely available
• No malware is needed, attackers log in like a normal user

What happens next:

• Privilege escalation to administrative access
• Persistent access that may not trigger antivirus
• Living off the land attacks using legitimate tools

3. Unpatched Systems and Internet Facing Services

What it looks like:

• Outdated VPNs, firewalls, or remote access tools
• Vulnerable web servers, applications, or plugins
• Exposed RDP or management interfaces reachable from the internet

Why it works:

• Attackers scan the internet continuously for known vulnerabilities
• Exploitation is often automated
• Organizations with slow patching become easy targets

What happens next:

• Immediate foothold inside the network
• Backdoors created for long term access
• Rapid ransomware deployment or data exfiltration

IT Support vs. Cybersecurity: Is This a One Person Job?

At this point, you may be wondering what the difference is between cybersecurity and IT support, and whether one person can realistically handle both.

A common misconception is assuming that IT support automatically means strong cybersecurity. They work together, but they are not the same discipline. IT support focuses on keeping people productive day to day. Cybersecurity focuses on reducing risk and monitoring for threats.

Cybersecurity requires consistent review of alerts, logs, and suspicious activity, often outside normal business hours. IT support is pulled in many directions, fixing printers, onboarding employees, and responding to urgent issues. Expecting one person to do both well is difficult, especially when they are out of the office or handling emergencies.

Supply Chain Compliance Requests and C-SCRM

You might feel like, “We have made it this far without a major incident, so we are probably fine.” The challenge is that cybersecurity risk does not always arrive as a breach. Sometimes it arrives as a business requirement.

More organizations now ask vendors to prove their cybersecurity posture as a condition of doing business. This is often called a supply chain compliance request or cyber supply chain risk management, also known as C-SCRM.

Being unprepared for these requests can slow down onboarding, put renewals at risk, or cost contracts. We help manufacturers respond clearly, provide the right documentation, and close gaps before a customer forces the issue.

Your Employees Will Click a Bad Link Eventually

Have an Incident Response Plan Ready!

Incident Response Planning: What Happens When Something Goes Wrong?

No organization plans to have a cybersecurity incident. The problem is that many businesses plan what to prevent, but not what to do when prevention fails.

An Incident Response Plan defines how your business detects, contains, and recovers from a cybersecurity event such as ransomware, business email compromise, or system outages. When an incident occurs, time matters. A documented plan turns chaos into coordinated action.

Why Incident Response Planning Matters

Without a plan, businesses often:

• Lose critical time deciding what to do
• Make costly mistakes under pressure
• Shut down operations longer than necessary
• Fail to notify the right people or meet legal obligations
• Suffer greater financial and reputational damage

With a plan in place, teams know who acts, when to act, and how to limit impact.

What a Strong Incident Response Plan Includes

A practical incident response plan typically covers:

• Roles & responsibilities: Who makes decisions, who contacts vendors, and who communicates internally and externally
• Detection & escalation: How suspicious activity is identified and when it becomes an incident
• Containment steps: How systems are isolated to stop further damage
• Communication guidelines: What to tell employees, customers, vendors, and leadership
• Recovery procedures: How systems and data are restored safely
• Post-incident review: What was learned and how defenses are improved

Planning Reduces Downtime and Cost

Most cyber incidents are not catastrophic because of the attack itself, but because of slow or uncoordinated response. A tested incident response plan reduces downtime, limits financial loss, and helps businesses recover faster and more confidently.

It’s Not About Fear. It’s About Readiness.

Incident response planning isn’t about expecting the worst. It’s about making sure that if something does happen, your business isn’t making critical decisions for the first time in the middle of a crisis.