Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Imagine you’re the Director of IT for a global manufacturing company. You must keep production sites, suppliers, and remote workers securely connected while controlling costs and meeting compliance. Every day, new challenges arise: If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Manufacturing is rapidly evolving with Industry 4.0, where smart factories use automation, IoT, AI analytics, and real-time data to optimize production and efficiency.

As noted in the just-released Trustwave SpiderLabs report, 2025 Trustwave Risk Radar Report: Manufacturing Sector, modern manufacturing systems are increasingly interconnected, creating fertile ground for cybercriminals. The report details the weaknesses attackers exploit in infrastructure, workers, and the digital supply chain. Among the various tactics observed, vulnerability exploitation stood out due to its prevalence and potential impact.

When it comes to choosing a manufacturer to target for attack, threat groups have a healthy list of tools from which to choose. All of which are made more powerful due to this industry’s complex cybersecurity posture, driven by the increasing integration of IT/OT environments.

The line between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) has been blurring for years and what once were two distinct realms — IT managing data and networks, and OT controlling physical processes on the production floor — are now converging to drive smarter, more efficient manufacturing.

As the manufacturing sector continues to modernize and develop deeper and wider connections to the Internet, the industry has opened itself up to a broad range of sophisticated cyberattacks designed to take advantage of this sector’s still-developing cyber defenses. Trustwave SpiderLabs explains these and other issues facing manufacturers in its just released 2025 Trustwave Risk Radar Report: Manufacturing Sector, and offers a list of protective mitigations organizations can adopt.

The manufacturing sector has long been a favorite target for ransomware actors. However, the true scale of the issue has only recently become apparent: research published in Infosecurity Magazine last December revealed that ransomware attacks on manufacturing companies have caused an estimated $17bn in downtime since 2018. But why is the manufacturing sector so vulnerable? And what can organizations do to protect themselves? Keep reading to find out.

Trustwave is set to unveil the 2025 Trustwave Risk Radar: Manufacturing Sector - a deep dive into the most pressing cybersecurity risks facing the industry - on February 26 as part of Trustwave SpiderLabs’ multi-year research into the particularly unique set of cybersecurity threats positioned against the manufacturing sector. Pre-register now to be among the first to receive this comprehensive research plus additional deep dives and expert-led webinar overviews of the materials.

Industrial control systems (ICS) and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) environments were never designed to be exposed to the internet. Yet, as manufacturing enterprises embrace digital transformation, they find themselves in a challenging position—balancing operational efficiency with cybersecurity risk.

The top cyber threats facing the manufacturing industry are ransomware, supply chain attacks, insider threats, phishing and social engineering attacks. In 2023, the manufacturing sector accounted for 25% of all cyber attacks, making it the most targeted industry. As the manufacturing industry increasingly relies on the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve efficiency and productivity, addressing security risks has become essential.