Cyber attacks on manufacturing organizations have drastically increased since the coronavirus pandemic, as the heightened automation and use of software-based technologies have been adopted globally. Since the past few weeks, the manufacturing sector is regularly facing cybersecurity-related threats posed by cybercriminals and nation-sponsored espionage campaigns.
Cyber Threats in Manufacturing Sector
In recent times, the most common cyber threats faced by manufacturers include unauthorized access, data theft, ransomware, and abuse of known vulnerabilities.
In the last two months, cybercriminals had targeted several segments across manufacturing industries related to electronics, defense, gaming, automobile, and others. Recently, the attackers have targeted well-known firms, such as Foxconn, Kopter, Embraer, Advantech, and Belden. The most targeted regions include North and South America and Europe.
Cybercriminals used several trojans and other types of malware in their attacks to carry out their malicious intents. They used malware such as Mozi, QakBot, QuasarRAT, and Gitpaste-12.
Prominent Cyber Attacks
Ransomware is the most prominent attack vector in all recent attacks, followed by phishing and data theft. From November till present, the prominent ransomware families targeting manufacturing organizations include DoppelPaymer, Ragnar Locker, Nefilim, LockBit, and Conti. Spam email and phishing attacks are the most common ways of ransomware distribution. In addition, the attackers were observed to be exploiting several vulnerabilities.
Concluding Note
As anticipated earlier, the manufacturing sector continues to witness greater ransomware attacks. Therefore, experts suggest all associated organizations analyze and adapt to the evolving realms of cybersecurity. Experts recommend providing training to employees, managing access control, and making sure all applications are up-to-date.