Cybersecurity + Manufacturing = Ability to Remain Operational

In manufacturing, being offline for minutes is cause for concern; if your IT disruption lasts for days, it is a significant crisis with ramifications up and down the supply chain. The manufacturing industry is intricately woven into the fabric of the economy, and consumers expect (read: demand) product availability, quick recovery, and downtime transparency.

Many people don’t think about all the technology and people power that goes into fabrication because they only have a vague recollection of the old Ford factory documentaries they had to watch in grammar school. But now, the old Ford assembly line has been modernized with automation, precision equipment, highly trained workers, and a tight production schedule to keep things moving 24/7 to maximize revenue.

Protecting Core Operations

Because the manufacturing industry is critical to producing the items we use daily, a ‘glitch’ in the system—cyberattack, equipment or IT malfunction, internal sabotage, natural disaster—has a trickle-down effect impacting customers and manufacturing-adjacent industries for the distribution of goods and services.

While there are undeniable benefits of cloud connectivity, Artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) systems, and Operational Technology (OT), our dependence on convenience sometimes overshadows the inherent risk of global connectivity. These risks merit a thorough discovery of your enterprise vulnerabilities to determine the cost to your systems due to interdependencies. And most importantly—how do you plan to recover from a disruption?

Protecting your core operations and preparing recovery protocols is essential to business continuity in any business; however, manufacturers bear more responsibility and are more visible to the public than most businesses.

The manufacturing vertical takes a substantial financial hit after a successful attack and delayed restoration of operations. The result? Consumer trust is shattered, and employees are wary. Blame is projected across the C-suite and down through the vendors. Recovery can be a long and tedious process. Data restoration is time-consuming and expensive. The root cause of the disruption may be hard to find if you don’t have a proper asset management program in place.

How do you plan to maintain functionality when under duress?

Fortify the IT Enterprise Security Ecosystem

Digitization and cloud capabilities have helped the manufacturing sector improve speed and performance to achieve consistent productivity. Centralized industrial control systems (ICS) have given floor operators greater control of large workforces and factory outcomes. Workloads and applications in the cloud are easy to access from anywhere, allowing the sharing of schematics and data.

But these essential improvements have expanded the threat landscape and made manufacturers more susceptible to revenue-impacting cyberattacks. Everything from winning government contracts and lax cyber hygiene to hanging onto legacy systems can make manufacturers more susceptible to cyberattacks. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency (CISA) has already issued multiple advisories this year for the industry and doesn't expect things to get any easier.

Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and quantum computing capabilities have overwhelmed many IT teams who need more personnel to keep pace with evolving technologies. Many manufacturers turn to an IT Solutions provider to provide managed security and full-coverage risk management.

You can manage risk, but it's a moving target. And while there is no golden ticket, a Solutions Provider can give you channels of visibility into your environment with an Extended Threat Detection and Response (xTDR) solution.

xTDR for Cyber Resilience

TBC’s managed xTDR solution for enterprise environments plays both offense and defense for holistic security to incorporate cybersecurity processes and policies throughout the manufacturing process—from design inception to production and distribution.

xTDR offers the most complete security coverage for overall risk management with:

• Network visibility
• SOC security monitoring and incident response
• Vulnerability management
• Endpoint Detection and Response
• Network Detection and Response
• Data Security Posture Management
• Compliance Management
• SIEM log ingestion
• Identity Management
• Firewall security
• Risk-based alerting
• Unified Threat Hunting & Threat Intelligence
• Incident management – define severity & impact
• Monitor traffic behavior for greater alert fidelity

With xTDR, you can discover your risk tolerance, understand the constraints of your current tech stack, and fortify your cyber resilience with a comprehensive security solution.

TBC Keeps You Operational Despite the Odds

TBC is an IT Solutions Provider with over 26 years of experience in managed services and risk management. TBC is a workforce integrator that can manage whole IT ecosystems—from cybersecurity to data backups to infrastructure design and implementation.

TBC’s certified architects and engineers support and protect your IT-dependent operations. TBC has partnered with industry-leading vendors to secure the hardware and software you need to remain in business.

Our suite of IT services is customizable to solve your most challenging pain points to give you the foundation to thrive in your highly completive, highly regulated industry. Our flagship product, xTDR, offers our full scope of IT disciplines to keep your enterprise secure and operational—offering cybersecurity, asset management, data backups, 24/7 SOC, cloud management, access security, infrastructure deployment, and continued systems management. We value our manufacturing clients, and we are proud to support their success.