Securing the Factories of Tomorrow - How Industry 5.0 Will Shift the Focus of Cyber Security
Industry 5.0 is on the horizon, and cyber security is becoming more critical than ever to manufacturers.
Perhaps the most significant impact of the evolution from industry 4.0 to 5.0 will be the shift in focus to a more ‘human-centric’ nature. Industry 4.0 was all about automation, technological integration and revolutionising traditional manufacturing processes to make production cycles cheaper, more efficient and to scale output to levels never previously possible. 5.0 looks to build on these advancements, offering a more human-centric, sustainable, and resilient approach while refining how we as humans interact and operate alongside mass technological and robotic integration.
However, attempting to build a more resilient, sustainable, and human-focused industry will further highlight the significant vulnerabilities the manufacturing sector is already struggling to tackle, particularly in regards to cyber security.
For three years, the manufacturing sector has consistently ranked as the most targeted industry for cyber attacks.*
So…why are manufacturers being targeted?
The complex, multi-layered nature of manufacturing paired with the vast supply chain networks in place to support operations, lend themselves to cyber criminals looking to exploit these processes and disrupt your operations. The sector is also particularly lucrative to cyber criminals, with many organisations likely to pay ransom fees in an attempt to limit operational downtime and reduce the overall impact of a breach. In 2024, the average cost of one of these breaches in the manufacturing/industrial sector was $5.6 million**
There are several reasons why manufacturers have been targeted so consistently but one of the key factors is the level of underinvestment in cyber security from organisations operating in the sector. Manufacturers investment in cyber resilience often lag behind firms operating in other critical sectors like the financial and legal sectors for example, contributing to the already vulnerable structure of the industry and creating further vulnerabilities to be targeted and exploited by cyber criminals.
How are manufacturers being targeted:
Ransomware: The most common attack vector. Cyber criminals are deploying ransomware on a mass scale, armed with the knowledge that firms in the sector will likely pay the ransom to avoid costly and long-term operational disruptions.
Supply Chain Attacks: A growing concern across the industry, supply chain attacks are becoming increasingly common and take advantage of an often overlooked element of a firm’s cyber resilience.
Phishing: Often one of the most common forms of attack across all industries, phishing campaigns are just as prevalent in manufacturing.
BEC (Business Email Compromise): BEC is another weapon of choice for cyber criminals targeting the sector. The lack of cyber awareness training investment exacerbates the issue further.
How Will Industry 5.0 Shift the Focus?
Enhanced Human-Machine Interface & AI/Machine Learning Security:
With the level of technological, robotic and AI integration increasing significantly in the past 10 years, it’s safe to assume that this trend isn’t going to change - what will need to change however, is the way in which we interact with this technology in order to remain safe, secure and resilient to the potential cyber vulnerabilities that come with it. Protecting the interfaces and access points where humans interact with these machines requires strong authentication, encryption, and vulnerability assessments.
Building Stronger Sector-Wide Cyber Resilience:
Another one of the key aims for Industry 5.0 is for the manufacturing sector to make progress in building up its resilience to cyber attacks and for organisations in the sector to improve their ‘cyber maturity’. This is essentially a firm’s ability to successfully and effectively respond to a cyber incident in a timely and strategic manner. Both cyber resilience and cyber maturity go hand in hand - resilience is all about having methods in place to keep operational disruption to a minimum, ensuring any potential breaches have as little effect as possible on the day-to-day operations of the organisations. Cyber maturity takes this a step further and ensures that cyber security awareness is a core organisational element that underpins all policies and processes for a robust defence against cyber criminals.
For firms operating in the manufacturing sector, having this ability would go a long way to reducing the fallout of potential attacks, by removing (or at least reducing) the need to quickly make ransom payments, and eventually making the sector less attractive to cyber criminals who will realise it is becoming harder and more intensive to launch cyber attacks within the manufacturing sector.
Greater Emphasis on Cyber Security Education, Training & Awareness:
The only way organisations will be able to build their cyber resilience effectively is to ensure that they have a workforce capable of developing and implementing a cyber strategy consistently.
In order to facilitate this, organisations will need to invest in their employees and bring cyber security awareness to the forefront of training and development plans - it’s crucial that employees are aware of cyber risk and understand the impact that a lacklustre cyber security policy can have on an organisation should they fall victim to an attack.
What Steps Can You Take to Prepare Your Organisation For the Era of Industry 5.0?
Make Cyber Security Investment a Greater Priority - The foundation of any successful strategy, whether cyber security or otherwise, is investment. Without investment and resources, no organisation is going to be as prepared as it needs to be and all elements of your cyber strategy will fail as a result. Particularly in the case of manufacturing, many firms are already heavily underinvested in their cyber security, so this would be a positive first step to making tangible and necessary improvements.
Make Positive Moves to Fortify Your Cyber Resilience and Increase Cyber Maturity - Manufacturers must begin the process of building resilience as soon as possible. By making continuous improvements to response plans, upkeeping regular awareness training, investing in phishing simulations and developing a roadmap to bring every element of the business into a position that promotes greater cyber security, the transition into the era of industry 5.0 will be seamless and smooth. Cyber maturity isn’t built overnight, it takes a sustained approach and consistent effort for an organisation to adopt authentic cyber best practices.
Bring Cyber Security Training to the Forefront of Organisational Training and Development Plans - Without a network of cyber-aware employees, basic mistakes will still be made. Regular training and cyber awareness need to be core pillars of your organisational training programmes in order to create a culture of good cyber hygiene. Employees are always the last line of defence.
Develop a Greater Understanding of Your Supply Chain - Building a strategic partnership with your suppliers allows for a better flow of information and an opportunity to implement a joint approach to supply chain management securing all links in the chain. Make sure that any suppliers you bring into your supply chain are certified with an accreditation such as Cyber Essentials or even something more comprehensive like ISO 27001. If you do not hold your suppliers to a minimum standard, this leaves huge flaws in your overall cyber safety.
Consider Aligning Your Organisation With a Governance Framework - By aligning your organisation with a governance framework such as ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials or IASME Cyber Assured, you’ll give your firm an organisational baseline to adhere to. This will encourage a greater degree of cyber awareness and a full roadmap to follow as you progress on your path to accreditation compliance.
How Can PureCyber Help?
The PureCyber team are here to take over the burden of your cyber security and ensure your organisation’s data remains secure and well managed, with proactive monitoring and real-time threat intelligence - providing you with a comprehensive and reliable cyber department to support you in all aspects of your security efforts, including: 24/7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) services, Managed Detection & Response (MDR/EDR) Threat Exposure Management (TEM) & Brand Protection Services & Penetration Testing.
PureCyber is recognised as an Assured Service Provider by the NCSC to offer governance and compliance consultancy services/audits. Contact our team of compliance experts to enquire about our full range of Governance Support - including Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001, FISMA, SOC1 and SOC2 standards.
Get in touch or book a demo for more information on our services and how we can safeguard your organisation with our expert cyber security solutions.
Email: info@purecyber.com. Call: 0800 368 9397
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