Did you know that…

• The manufacturing sector is the third-most targeted by cyberattacks in the UK
• Cybercrime costs the UK economy an estimated £27 billion per year
• 50% of UK businesses reported being targeted by cyberattacks in 2024
• The average cost of a cyberattack for medium-sized UK businesses is £10,830

Manufacturers are constantly vulnerable to cyberattacks, which can be highly costly both in financial terms but also with regard to reputation. Because they’re reliant on IT across the board – from machine programming to production, and from dispatch to customer service – any disruption to their systems can be disastrous for manufacturers.

According to data from the UK government, 50% of businesses and 32% of charities reported cybersecurity breaches or attempted attacks in 2024.

Of these targeted organisations, just over two-fifths – 44% among businesses and 42% among charities – actually fell victim to cybercriminals.

This is why it’s vital that you’re up to speed on cybersecurity risks, which are constantly evolving and shifting, and what they mean for the manufacturing industry. If a cyberattack succeeds, it could render your systems inoperable, data inaccessible and customers unreachable. The worst-case scenario is a total shutdown until IT recovery is completed.

 

 

Depending on what cybersecurity protections your business has in place at the time of an attack, recovery can take several weeks – and, even then, you may lose sensitive data irretrievably. All the while, your business is likely to be haemorrhaging money, with staff and suppliers left on standby, orders going unfulfilled and the costs of remedial action to cover.

Of course, hackers and cybercriminals are well aware of the damage they can inflict on businesses. The manufacturing sector is a particularly attractive target for ransomware attacks, as the perpetrators know only too well how desperate manufacturers are likely to be simply to resume business as usual.

Hackers also tend to see manufacturers as offering relatively easy pickings, often with large sums of cash at their disposal and sometimes inadequate cybersecurity protections.

Only 31% of manufacturers have undertaken a cyber risk assessment, and just 22% have formal incident response plans in place. This is why cyber criminals commonly deploy attacks such as phishing emails against manufacturers, in the hope of defrauding them of money.

At Sentis, we’re passionate about helping businesses stay protected against cyberattacks. We’ll undertake a free, no-obligation cybersecurity audit to identify potential weaknesses and suggest tailored recommendations to bolster your defences.

Contact us today to book your free audit.