Capgemini: 51% of manufacturing companies expect cyber attacks to increase

Capgemini

A new report from the Capgemini Research Institute shows that 51% of manufacturing companies believe that the number of cyber attacks in smart factories is set to increase in the next 12 months, but, despite this, almost half (47%) say that the cybersecurity in the smart factory environment is not a priority for C-levels.

According to the report, entitled "Smart & Secure: Why smart factories need to prioritize cybersecurity", very few manufacturing companies have established procedures of cybersecurity, despite the very nature of smart factories, the risks of cyber attacks exponentially increase in the era of the Intelligent Industry.

Approximately 53% of organizations in the sector, in particular 60% of those active in heavy industry and 56% of those in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector recognize that smart factories will be the main target of cyber attacks in the future.

However, a high l level of awareness does not automatically translate into equal preparation at the company level: the lack of attention on the part of management, the limited budget and human factors are the main obstacles to effective cybersecurity in manufacturing companies.| ); }
A greater number of connected devices, especially operational technology (OT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), make smart factories an easy target for cyber attacks. If this aspect does not become a priority for companies, they will struggle to face these challenges, educate employees and suppliers and facilitate communication between cybersecurity teams and management ".

The study shows that, for many organizations , cybersecurity is not considered among the priority elements in the design phase: only 51% implement it by default in their smart factories. Unlike IT platforms, not all organizations may also be able to analyze equipment in a smart factory while it is in operation.




This problem derives in part from the scarce availability of adequate tools and processes, but for a significant percentage of respondents (51%) the cyber threats to the smart factory derive mainly from their network of partners and suppliers. 28% also said that the number of employees who brought virus-infected devices onto the network to install or upgrade smart factory machinery had grown by 20% from 2019 to today.

Regarding attacks cybersecurity teams, few organizations surveyed say cybersecurity teams have the knowledge and skills to promptly introduce security patches without external support. A widespread cause of this inadequacy is the lack of a dedicated cybersecurity figure to manage the required updater.


The lack of collaboration between the managers of smart factories and the Chief Security Officers is another issue of concern for more than half of the interviewees: this difficulty in communication hinders the ability of organizations to promptly identify cyber attacks, worsening the extent of the damage.

The report highlights that "Cybersecurity Leaders", capable of adopting consolidated procedures in terms of awareness, preparation and implementation of cybersecurity in smart factories, obtain a competitive advantage under different points of view. The areas where the greatest benefits are recorded are the timely recognition of cyber attack patterns (74%) and the reduction of the impact of the attacks themselves (72%), which in other organizations stop at 46% and 41% respectively .