Common cyber attack types in manufacturing
In 2022, almost a quarter of all cyber attacks worldwide involved manufacturing companies. Ransomware, one of the most common types of cyber attacks in this sector, hit almost all subsectors, targeting metal products and automotive productions more frequently. Overall, North America accounted for 40 percent of ransomware attacks on industrial organizations and infrastructures worldwide.With the development of new threat groups and tactics to target critical infrastructure, manufacturers rightfully anticipate an increase in cyber attacks in the upcoming future.
Supply chain cyber attacks
The supply chain is one of the essential parts of the manufacturing industry as it is the process of turning the raw material into a final product. In this process, there can be multiple parties involved. This is one of the reasons why the manufacturing industry is vulnerable to cyber attacks as the disruption of one party can cause downtime in the whole production. In 2022, one of the most significant supply chain attacks worldwide involved Toyota. A ransomware attack on Kojima Industries Corporation, one of the major suppliers, led to the Japanese vehicle manufacturer to partially take down its manufacturing processes. The downtime caused the company a five percent drop in production.Case: the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack
One of the most notable cyber incidents in the manufacturing industry was the 2021 cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline system. On May 6th, the attackers accessed the system through an exposed password for a VPN account. The pipeline company decided to shut down its operations to prevent hackers from causing more extensive damage to the digital equipment managing the pipeline. The shutdown interrupted the 8,850 km pipeline that carries gasoline and fuel to the Southeastern part of the United States and is responsible for 45 percent of the fuel consumed on the East Coast.A few hours after gaining access, the attackers stole 100 gigabytes of data and threatened to sell it online unless the ransom was paid, demanding 75 Bitcoins (4.4 million U.S. dollars) worth of ransom. The Colonial Pipeline paid the ransom and, after a few days, was able to restore the pipeline's operations. Investigators believe that the hacking group DarkSide is behind this attack. After a month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the recovery of most of the ransom paid by the Colonial Pipeline.
The disruption in Colonial Pipeline's operations caused changes in flight schedules and fuel shortages at gas stations in several states across the country. This attack was a wake-up call for the federal government on the vulnerability of critical infrastructures, leading to the establishment of a Cyber Safety Review Board and a task force of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Colonial Pipeline cyber attack, as well as the late 2020 Solar Winds hack which impacted multiple federal government agencies in the United States, has led to critical infrastructure companies to take firmer actions towards cyber resilience by increasing investments in cyber security.
Spotlight: automotive industry
One of the biggest subsectors in the manufacturing industry, the automotive manufacturing industry, regularly suffers from cyber attacks. In May 2022, automotive manufacturers worldwide saw 32 cyber incidents. Most cyber attacks in the automotive sector occur remotely, with chipset suppliers (Tier - 2) being the most vulnerable part of the vehicle manufacturing process.The most common consequence of cyber attacks in the automotive industry is the exposure of sensitive data. Furthermore, the type of information that is compromised the most is consumer information.
Threat actors continuously develop attack techniques, making them more advanced. With AI-backed technologies putting cybercrime to the next level, companies, especially critical infrastructure, will continue to be targeted. One of the ways to prevent companies from suffering more damaging cyber attacks in the future is transparency in cyber crime reporting and more
