Your Manufacturing Company Needs The Best Cybersecurity
Your manufacturing company has a lot of moving parts. And if yours is like most, you increasingly rely on technology to keep the lines moving. With the increase and diversification of consumer needs in the world today, there’s a constant requirement to improve everything from order taking to shipping while keeping your IT systems secure.
Today’s manufacturing firms face many challenges. They must ensure that the needs and desires of consumers are met, but there are new and very serious dangers from the increase in the number of cybersecurity attacks.
No company is immune. Whether you run a large or small manufacturing firm, you could be the victim of a cyberattack. Malware, phishing scams, and ransomware are the major ways you might be attacked.
Why Are Cybercriminals After Your Manufacturing Business?
The manufacturing environment is changing more rapidly than it did during the Industrial Revolution. And with information technology changing just as fast, your company faces increasing challenges. One of the biggest to date is cybercrime. Hackers all over the world spend a lot of time and money searching for ways to infiltrate your network. Once they get in, they’ll steal your data and hold it for ransom.
Ransomware is now a leading cause of problems for manufacturing companies. Small firms think they’re safe because they believe these cyber crooks will go after larger companies. But this isn’t necessarily so. Statistics show that hackers will go after anybody. It doesn’t matter how large or small your company is. It doesn’t matter what industry sector you work in.
While you’re worrying about efficiently producing the best products, hackers are looking for a way to steal from you. You need to focus on your business requirements and goals; and strategies that improve efficiency, reliability, and productivity. But today, security has become a number-one concern for manufacturing firms all over the world.
How Do You Stop Hackers?
These days, hackers and even automated web bots are trying to gain access to your network and ultimately steal your private customer and business information. When successful, the attackers can lock down your data or worse, they can release your customer information to the world. So how do you stop them?
Begin with a high-level evaluation of your current business environment that includes an assessment of your overall security health. IT security experts will perform penetration testing and vulnerability assessment scans. Once the assessment is complete, the managed IT service company will recommend a security plan that provides a comprehensive solution to ensure safeguards against current and future threats. If you wish, they can also implement all the security features necessary.
Below are some important protections that every manufacturing business should have:
- A bundled security program that includes an anti-virus solution, intrusion prevention firewall, data encryption, email and web protection.
- A cybersecurity plan that spells out precisely what will happen in case cybercriminals break into your computers. This should include a rapid response, someone who handles the media and compliance issues, a team of IT experts that can come in and assess the damage and then make recommendations.
- Multi-layered security solution for all PCs, laptops, tablets, servers, and other computer devices.
- Mobile Device Monitoring with security for your mobile devices and support for your employees’ personal devices (BYOD - Bring Your Own Device). You should be able to remotely erase your business data from any phone or computer that’s lost or stolen.
- Daily onsite and offsite backups of your IT network. Do you have a current version of your data, including software programs? If you have this, you can get the IT staff to reinstall everything from scratch if needed.
- Remote Monitoring and Management of your network and computers to detect intrusions and block them before criminals can steal your data.
- Security Risk Assessments to identify vulnerabilities and modify your overall security posture.
- Security Awareness Training to educate your staff on current IT threats which is crucial to your data privacy.
How Has The Crime of Hacking Become More Sophisticated?
Today’s cybercriminals are often backed by huge governments like those in China, Russia or North Korea. Hacking has become big business in these countries. There's almost no risk, and those who are really good at it can net millions of dollars a year. It's the perfect crime. There's no way to stop these criminals. All you can do is protect yourself with the best security tools and programs.
Cyberattacks are on the rise. The techniques and tools available to malicious actors are continuously evolving. It makes sense to protect your technology assets.
The number one thing that business owners can do is to realize that they could become a victim of cybercrime and take action to prevent this. Stay a step ahead of hackers and keep your manufacturing business safe.
