Recent news reports indicate that ransomware attacks are becoming more prolific and all industries are vulnerable. An article by Jeffrey Tilley, Vice President and Manager, Cyber Hazards, and Jens Alkemper, Vice President and Research Area Director, FM Global, point out the specific risks to manufacturing and production.
Tilley and Alkemper maintain that effective prevention of cyber risks cannot remain the sole responsibility of technology professionals. Risk management professionals, along with business leaders and senior management, need to work in conjunction with IT in a coordinated effort against cyberattacks. They outline several steps risk managers bring to the team to help enhance prevention and mitigate losses in the event of an attack:
- Break down technology silos for a holistic approach. Close the cultural gap between IT and those working on production networks.
- Prioritize cyber as an enterprise risk. Cyber is like any other risk in terms of impact from a disruption in production.
- Insist on secure backups offline that cannot be hacked. Having prepared back up strategies enables the focus to be on recovery efforts.
- Prepare the organization for attacks through layering defenses and balancing security with business enablement. Communicate that malware risks are real and can start with phishing emails.
The article sums up the importance of being prepared to manage cyber risk effectively as follows, “…the security of production automation should be as big a concern as the automation itself.”
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