Only 34% of manufacturing executives believe their staff take cyber security seriously, in their day-to-day work according to the government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey: 2017.
The report, published earlier this week, suggests that UK manufacturing businesses demonstrate a “soft underbelly” when it comes to cyber-attack vulnerability. Across other business sectors, the figure is far higher, at more than three-quarters (76%).
A headlong leap into poorly-defined internet of things (IoT) projects and ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) working practices may be putting more firms in danger of an attack, according to systems integrator, World Wide Technology.
The report shows that almost half (46%) of UK businesses are exposed to the security risks of BYOD, with manufacturers urged to adapt to the new security demands of an increasingly connected world.
Vice president of security solutions at World Wide Technology, Mike McGlynn explained: “The range of devices being exposed to the internet are usually not known for having mature security software, and are often in a vulnerable state.
“Even their manufacturers may not be in a position to regularly patch software in order to protect against online threats, let alone the enterprises that adopt these devices. The device management task involved in some IoT projects is on a scale unlike anything most manufacturer’s networks have tackled so far.
“Currently, most device management applications are designed for tablets and smartphones which have much more predictable behaviour. They now have to deal with the number and variety of devices being connected: a smart building initiative, which uses sensors in one fixed location, creates a very different security challenge than a global supply chain project.
McGlynn continued: “Bring Your Own Device has certainly proved a challenge for many organisations, but the predicted explosion of connected devices – to reach 20.8 billion globally by 2020 – means that manufacturing firms must take a holistic approach to cybersecurity which prepares them to resist attacks at the endpoint, network, cloud, and application layers.”
Read the government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey: 2017 here.
Learn how bridging the gap between existing industrial assets and the digital world enables improved Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through Predictive Maintenance.
Register for our upcoming webinar, sponsored by Dell EMC, titled: Improved Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through Predictive Maintenance
When: April 27 at 11:00am ET
Duration: 45 minutes
Click here to Register
