Cybersecurity Services For Miami Manufacturing Companies
Miami, Florida is home to nearly 3,000 manufacturing companies. As the owner or operator of a South Florida manufacturing company, you know how critical it is to maintain smooth, seamless operations. At the same time, you must remain vigilant about cybersecurity.
Unfortunately, it only takes one data breach or successful cyberattack to wreak havoc on your business. And with the costs of these attacks forcing 60 percent of small companies to go out of business, you can hardly afford not to invest in cybersecurity services. Below is a look at the biggest cybersecurity threats to Miami manufacturers and the single best way to protect your business.
What Are The Top Cybersecurity Threats To Miami Manufacturers?
Before taking a look at the ways you can protect your company, it is helpful to understand exactly how cybercrime could impact your business. Because manufacturing typically involves tangible materials and physical production of goods, the scope of cyber-threats differs from those that impact other business types. Here are some of the top cybersecurity threats to Miami manufacturers.
Phishing
Recent security research shows nearly forty percent of all phishing attacks target manufacturing companies, making manufacturing the most targeted industry for phishing attempts. Phishing is a malicious email tactic designed to coax unsuspecting employees into revealing personal or confidential information.
In many cases, phishing emails are well-disguised to appear as if they are coming from a well-known and trusted person or company. This causes the recipient to relax and be more willing to divulge privileged information such as credit card information, passwords, or proprietary manufacturing details.
Man In The Middle Attacks
Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks are particularly dangerous because they can disrupt multiple parts of a manufacturer’s supply chain. The attacks frequently involve a lot of initial monitoring of email exchanges and other online activity in search of hot opportunities to strike. Here is a step by step example of how a MITM attack could impact a manufacturer’s supply chain activity and cause devastating loss:
- A hacker gains access to the email activity of the purchasing manager for a manufacturing company
- The hacker monitors the manager’s email activity, waiting for them to confirm a large order with a legitimate vendor
- When the vendor sends wire transfer instructions to the manufacturer, the hacker intercepts the email
- Then, the hacker poses as the vendor and writes to the purchasing manager with different bank account details
- The unsuspecting purchasing manager wires $50,000 to the hacker’s bank account instead of the actual vendor
- At the end of the day, the manufacturer loses the $50,000 and never receives the components they desperately need to fill orders
Ransomware
Ransomware attacks rose dramatically in 2021, with notable upticks impacting supply chains. A ransomware attack usually occurs when a hacker gains access to your system and blocks access to files or applications. The hacker demands a payment or ransom in exchange for renewed access to the files and applications.
2021 was a particularly painful year for the manufacturing industry, with companies such as Olympus and Ferrara suffering costly ransomware attacks that disrupted operations on multiple occasions. In addition to the increase in ransomware attacks, cybercriminals are demanding increasingly high ransoms as high as $7.5 million.
Equipment Sabotage
Of all the cyberthreats listed, equipment sabotage is one of the most dangerous for South Florida manufacturers. This is because the threat can cause physical harm to employees and customers in addition to financial loss and supply chain disruption.
Manufacturers are at increased risk for equipment sabotage due to their dependence on operational technology (OT). Today’s sophisticated hackers use OT devices as a means of gaining access to networks. Once the hackers infiltrate your network, they can gain control of manufactured devices and cause them to operate in a way that harms users. At the end of the day, consumers lose trust in the manufacturer, who may never be able to recover.
Poor Protection
Despite the recent surge in cybercrime, many manufacturers lack the proper insurance protection to safeguard against cyberthreats. It is no longer enough to invest in cyber insurance. With the average data breach costing small businesses $108,000, you need to increase your focus on protection by really diving into your insurance policy. Read through it in detail to ensure it covers all the threats above plus any additional threats to your business.
What Steps Can You Take To Safeguard Your Business Against Cybercrime?
While the threat of cybercrime may seem intimidating, there are some steps you can take today to help protect your manufacturing company. Here are some simple steps you can take to boost cyber security at your company:
- Schedule cybersecurity awareness training to help employees recognize and respond to the common threats above.
- Require multifactor authentication for your systems to make it more difficult for hackers to gain access to your network.
- Update your internal policies regarding data collection and storage to ensure you comply with current compliance standards.
- Invest in more sophisticated antivirus software to help detect ransomware and generate alerts for your staff.
- Train your finance and purchasing employees to never authorize financial transactions without multi-step verification of bank details.
- Establish a system security plan that details all the practices you implement to keep data secure. Make sure you update your plan regularly.
What Is The Single Best Way To Protect Your Miami Manufacturing Company From Cybercrime?
Miami residents depend heavily on local manufacturing companies to produce goods and help sustain the local economy. If you own or operate a manufacturing business, it is up to you to protect your company from the harsh effects of cybercrime.
The single best way to protect your Miami manufacturing company is to seek the services of a cybersecurity expert. We invite you to contact us at 4it to book a complimentary consultation with one of our cybersecurity specialists. When you meet with our IT team, you will find out why manufacturing companies across the Miami-Dade area turn to us to safeguard their businesses against cyberattacks. We look forward to becoming your trusted resource for all your IT needs!
Thanks to our colleagues at CEU Technologies in the Chicagoland area for their help with this article.
