Over the last several years, we have all witnessed and experienced the impact of supply chain disruptions on a global scale due to the pandemic. Thankfully many of those issues have been improving, but what would happen if, on a more individualized level, your company was waylaid by a cyber attack?
According to Statista, in 2021, the average downtime to an institution after a ransomware attack was 22 days! A supply chain cyber attack or a phishing attack could be just as detrimental.
For many, the effects of such a hit would be crippling.
Give a moment to think of the impact an attack on even just one of your systems would have…
Materials & Purchasing Issues
The materials for your manufacturing process need to be procured somewhere (unless you’re the miner, harvester, or source of the core materials). If you are unable to communicate with your suppliers to order the goods, it would set you back and begin the chain of delays.
With so many companies running lean and instituting a Just In Time (JIT) manufacturing approach, any delay of goods could cause significant disruptions.
Manufacturing Disruptions
Most manufacturing processes are handled by sophisticated machinery that utilize complex programming in order to create a product as efficiently and consistently as possible.
Now imagine if those complex programs and algorithms were off by even a little bit.
Depending on what you make, it could hinder the integrity of the product, possibly creating a life-threatening issue and/or destroying an entire batch of product.
Internal Communication Failures
While not necessarily part of the manufacturing process, your company still needs to communicate internally and externally. Emails, phone systems, shift scheduling, meeting schedules and AV technologies, company design work, HR needs and payroll processing are just some of the items that rely on your systems to operate day-to-day.
Logistics/Shipping Disruptions
Your built product needs to find its way into your client’s hands. If your shipping systems are down or your scales are not operational, things grind to a halt. During the pandemic, we saw this on a larger scale with the shipping yards and ports being overwhelmed and lines of trucks waiting for their shipments to be ready so they could be on their way. …You don’t want that same type of scent at your company
Lost Business & Reputation Management
Even if you make it “successfully” through an attack and get your systems fully operational again, you could still be looking at issues that can plague you for years to come.
During the attack, you may have lost business with companies going elsewhere for a similar product that was available.
After the attack, word may have gotten out that you fell victim to a cyber attack (nothing to be ashamed of, to be sure), and some entities may be hesitant to continue to work together or it may be evidence of non-compliance to industry standards (depending on your industry).
Cybersecurity for the Manufacturing Industry
The threats of a cyber attack and what it could mean to your business are very real. There are solutions that Diamond IT can assist with such as SecureCentric, our Managed Cyber Security stack, our VCISO services to build an incident response plan and ensure compliance, or helping to set you up for coverage from a cyber insurance carrier.
Most all of these begin with a technology assessment – click here to get started today.