Manufacturing Industry Sees 30 Percent Rise In Cyberattacks: Report

The sector saw a 30 percent year-over-year rise and is plagued by one attack in particular.

Cyberattackers are taking aim at the manufacturing sector and leveraging a tumultuous geopolitical climate to inflict more damage, according to one new report.

The manufacturing sector saw a 30 percent year-over-year rise in cyberattacks, according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Check Point Software.

That translates into an average of 1,585 cyberattacks per manufacturing organization, per week.

Ransomware was the most pervasive threat in manufacturing. Forty-nine percent of these attacks were against U.S. manufacturers, Check Point researchers found.

In the first half of 2024, more than 360 industrial manufacturers were victims of extortion, the report also found.

Encryption-focused threat groups are the biggest threat against the manufacturing industry, followed by the Play Ransomware cybercriminal organization, and then data exfiltration-focused groups.

Manufacturing is also particularly vulnerable to business email compromise, Initial Access Broker attacks, and botnet injections against unpatched systems.

Nation-state actors—be they hacktivists spurred by political events or cybercriminals out to make a buck or steal intellectual property—frequently target manufacturers, the report found. Hacktivists tend to focus on defense, energy and critical infrastructure supply chain firms.

The report concluded that manufacturers are especially vulnerable to threats due to “legacy operational technology, complex supply chains, and limited tolerance for downtime.”

Supply chain attacks are even more insidious as they can disrupt entire manufacturing ecosystems. The interconnectivity on the supply chain provides a vast attack vector for bad actors.

“This report is a wake-up call for manufacturers and governments alike,” said Sergey Shykevich, threat intelligence group manager, Check Point, in a statement. “Cyberattacks in this sector are not just halting production. They are delaying goods, compromising intellectual property, and destabilizing economies. In countries where manufacturing is a pillar of the economy, cyber resilience is a matter of national interest, not just IT hygiene.”

Access Check Point’s full report here.