Industry 4.0 has arrived – recent data shows that 90% of manufacturers view digital manufacturing tools and technologies as critical for improving productivity and profit — but many struggle to effectively adopt new solutions. Complexity accounts for one side of this challenge. The other is manufacturing cyber security. As both the scope and scale of digital solutions expand, organizations need effective ways to both reduce cyber risk and address emerging cyber security threats in manufacturing.

Recognizing Key Risks

Cyber security manufacturing concerns are on the rise. As organizations shift both operations and production to digital platforms, there’s increasing potential for malicious actors to compromise critical infrastructure or impede essential processes. For industries, the advent of sophisticated SCADA and ICS attacks creates a concern for connected systems — if attackers gain access to control platforms or essential network components, they could alter production parameters or reduce time-sensitive outputs. For customers, manufacturing cyber attacks can negatively impact overall trust. If clients are unsure of companies’ ability to meet production targets or worried that critical data may be compromised, business reputations can suffer. As a result, it’s essential for organizations to both recognize the evolving cyber risk for manufacturing and deploy solutions capable of meeting — and defeating — this challenge.

Creating Consistent Policies

Creating consistency in manufacturing cyber security policies is critical. First, organizations must identify key security needs. For example, businesses adopting new industrial Internet of things (IIoT) solutions are often best served by third-party vendor management solutions and risk assessment tools that help them identify potential weaknesses before critical issues emerge. Next, it’s essential for manufacturers to find their best-fit cyber security provider. As both cloud and on-premise solutions evolve, the market for these tools is rapidly expanding. To ensure providers can effectively address and respond to manufacturing cyber attacks, organizations need industry partners with the depth of experience and breadth of expertise to meet emerging challenges head-on. Drafting purpose-driven secure manufacturing policies is next on the list. In concert with cyber security providers, organizations must identify key weaknesses and create policies that specifically address potential security gaps. These may include identity and access management (IAM) controls, compliance procedures and privacy protection regulations. Finally, organizations must recognize the ongoing nature of manufacturing cyber attacks and the need for continual security monitoring and measurement. It’s critical to identify key metrics — such as identifying the specific nature of attacks or monitoring the overall number of threats — to ensure polices are working as intended.

Know cybersecurity policies, standards, and compliance deadlines that directly affect the manufacturing industry, especially those involved in critical infrastructure, defense contracting, and supply chain ecosystems. Understand how some of these developments affect you, such as:

CISA’s Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs): CISA released updated voluntary CPGs tailored for manufacturing and other critical infrastructure sectors

• Implement baseline cybersecurity practices: multi-factor authentication (MFA), network segmentation, log management, vulnerability management.
• Strong emphasis on OT asset visibility and incident response plans

Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0: All U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contractors, including many manufacturing companies in the defense supply chain.

Requires organizations to:

• Manufacturers handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) must meet Level 2 (Advanced) requirements.
• Self-assessments and third-party certifications (for Level 2 and 3).
• Continuous compliance with NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3

SEC Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules (U.S.): Publicly traded manufacturing companies (U.S.)

Requires organizations to:

• Report material cyber incidents within 4 business days
• Annual disclosure of cybersecurity risk governance and board oversight

Organizations need to:

• Perform a gap analysis against NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 and CMMC 2.0 if involved in DoD contracts
• Update supply chain risk management policies
• Harden industrial control systems (ICS/OT): segmentation, patching, and anomaly detection

Prepare for incident disclosure processes (both SEC and NIS2)

Deploying Purpose-Driven Defenses

At HALOCK Security Labs, it’s our mission to deliver reasonable and appropriate manufacturing cyber security solutions that empower organizations to quickly deploy best-of-breed strategies and reduce total risk. The manufacturing industry’s top threats are system intrusion, social engineering and miscellaneous errors, which represent 83% of breaches. Our services can help protect your data and systems. These include:

• Risk Based Threat Assessment – Improve protection against the five MITRE ATT&CK Types. Prioritize security controls to enhance or implement using the best threat data the cybersecurity community offers, leveraging the HALOCK Industry Threat (HIT) Index, a model for estimating the most likely (and least likely) ways your organization will be hit by a cybersecurity or information security attack.

• HALOCK’s Cloud Security Assessment – Gain insight on your risks. The assessment provides a review of Azure, AWS, and Google (GCP) cloud environments to identify risk and recommends how to remediate them.

• Compliance Controls — The increasing use of connected devices creates compliance concerns for digital manufacturing processes. PCI DSS has updated its requirements. Ensure you have implemented the proper standards for your specific cardholder data environment (CDE). Understand changes in password requirements, training, Targeted Risk Analysis (TRA), scanning, outsourcing eCommerce, automation, and more. We can help you achieve and maintain PCI Compliance. Learn how these requires impact your program. It is essential to review your compliance today to plan properly for your transition to the new standard. HIPAA and Privacy compliance are top of mind for all – from employees to clients, ensure you are practicing reasonable security to protect your sensitive information. HALOCK’s compliance controls help your company stay current and compliant.

• Incident Response Solutions — What happens if your production line is compromised? HALOCK can help your team design and deploy essential response procedures to help minimize risk and cost. HALOCK’s incident response management, process, and planning provide comprehensive coverage in the event of a security breach. Establish an incident response plan (IRP). Explore an ongoing program that gets in front of any potential threats or attacks. Undergo a forensic analysis. You can be response ready with an Incident Response Readiness as a Service (IRRaaS) program.

• Security Engineering – The goal is reduce total IT risk by implementing security controls and processes that address needs across your network. HALOCK provides comprehensive services such as Sensitive Data Scanning as a Service (SDSaaS), Threat-Based Security Architecture Review & Analysis that offers insight specific to your industry and Risk Management. A consistent and steady review of a manufacturer’s threat landscape is a best practice through a managed detection and response program (MDR) or Threat Hunting Program. Ensure you have the security safeguards required by compliance requirements like multi-factor authentication (MFA) or a web application firewall (WAF).

• Penetration Testing — System weaknesses aren’t always easy to identify, especially if you’re using a combination of both new tools and legacy systems. Our penetration testing tools help identify potential weak spots before they become big problems. Continuously verify the effectiveness of your controls with Recurring Pen Testing Program to keep up with new cyber security threats. Learn about new vulnerabilities with the HALOCK Exploit Insider – updates on what our pen testers have discovered.

• Mergers & Acquisition (M&A): As part of the due diligence process of an M&A, organizations must understand the risk and security profile of their partner or target company. You must determine what liabilities or risks can arise under the other company’s cybersecurity program. With HALOCK’s M&A program, we can help you through the entire process from pre-acquisition to post-acquisition to identify risks, remediation steps, and establish reasonable security.

• Third-party risk management (TPRM) — No digital transformation happens without third-party agreements. From software to hardware to infrastructure and network tools, vendors and contractors are critical to success. But they also can introduce cyber security manufacturing risk. A required best practice is to always conduct a supplier risk assessment to keep your vendors on point with your security posture. HALOCK can help build TPRM programs that deliver both performance and protection.

• Critical Risk Assessments — Are you deploying key safeguards and implementing reasonable protection policies? Our Duty of Care Risk Assessment (DoCRA) helps ensure you’re meeting due diligence requirements and delivering on defensive expectations. Updates in compliance requirements can be challenging to manage. Secure practices include understanding your overall risk. With the release of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Cybersecurity rules on disclosure, it’s essential that you regularly review your risk profile.

• Privacy Protection — Protecting customer and partner data is critical for secure manufacturing success. HALOCK experts can help you understand key privacy requirements and deploy effective security policies at scale.

• Policies & Procedures and Security Awareness Training — Ensure your teams are well-versed in how to manage company devices, understand potential threats, and how to communicate risks to the proper parties. Our teams can frame guidelines and protocols for cyber awareness and protocols specific to your organization.

• Legal Advisory & Strategic Planning for a Pharmaceutical Manufacturer – Example engagement

• Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Readiness – Prepare for CMMC certification requirement to continue working with the Department of Defense (DoD) or to bid on projects with the DoD.

” … the service was excellent … the Incident Response Plan was very well executed.”

– Industrial Manufacturing company

Protecting Productivity With HALOCK

Industry 4.0 has changed the manufacturing landscape. Digital tools are now critical to staying competitive, but these same tools introduce the potential for manufacturing cyber security gaps that leave essential control systems or production line processes exposed. As the economy depends on the essential manufacturing industry to grow, we can help keep them secure. HALOCK’s custom-built security solutions are designed to protect your productivity and help create consistent security policies that deliver long-term protection. Our experts work with your team to manufacture security solutions that both meet current needs and address future cybersecurity manufacturing concerns, even as digital adoption expands and connected technologies become cornerstone solutions.

“Your staff is incredible. Excellent to work with.”

– Manufacturing & Distribution company