1. Move Beyond Data Backups to Build True Cyber Resilience
To maintain continuous production, manufacturers rely on data from enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms, manufacturing execution systems (MES), industrial IoT sensors and supplier portals
A ransomware attack that corrupts or encrypts these systems can quickly shut down operations across multiple plants.
Start by identifying your most critical production systems, operational data sets and supplier integrations. Once these are mapped, organizations can prioritize recovery strategies aligned with operational risk.
Traditional backups alone are no longer enough. Many companies still maintain backup repositories connected to their production networks, which leaves them vulnerable to ransomware or insider threats.
Modern solutions such as air-gapped and immutable storage architectures can isolate backup environments from the main network. Offerings from partners such as Dell Technologies, IBM and Rubrik are commonly used to ensure recovery points remain protected even if attackers compromise primary systems.
For manufacturers, resilient backup strategies mean production data can be restored quickly, minimizing costly downtime across plants and logistics operations.
READ MORE: How manufacturers can build an OT and IoT security strategy.
2. Use AI-Driven Security Tools to Detect Threats Earlier
Artificial intelligence is reshaping cybersecurity on both sides of the battlefield.
Attackers increasingly use AI to automate reconnaissance, generate convincing phishing campaigns and adapt malware to bypass traditional defenses.
Manufacturers, however, can use AI-powered tools to improve threat detection and response across complex environments that include both IT and operational technology (OT).
Security platforms from Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike now incorporate machine learning models capable of analyzing massive volumes of telemetry data across endpoints, networks and cloud services.
For example:
- Microsoft Defender and Sentinel apply AI-driven threat intelligence to identify suspicious behaviors across hybrid environments.
- Palo Alto Networks Cortex platforms use machine learning to detect anomalies across network traffic and industrial systems.
- CrowdStrike Falcon analyzes endpoint activity to detect ransomware or lateral movement in real time.
For large manufacturing organizations with limited cybersecurity staff relative to their operational footprint, AI-driven automation can dramatically reduce the time required to detect and contain threats.
MORE FROM BIZTECH: Microsoft solutions help bolster threat intelligence and incident response.
3. Implement Zero-Trust Security Across Manufacturing
Manufacturing environments often rely on extensive collaboration with suppliers, integrators, contractors and logistics partners.
This makes identity and access control one of the most critical elements of supply chain security.
A zero-trust security framework assumes that no user, device or connection should be automatically trusted — even if it originates from inside the corporate network.
Instead, every access request must be continuously verified.
Key elements of a zero-trust approach include:
- Multifactor authentication for employees, contractors and suppliers
- Role-based access controls limiting who can access production systems
- Network segmentation separating OT systems from corporate IT environments
- Data encryption for sensitive production and supplier data
CDW partners such as Cisco, Microsoft and Okta provide identity and access platforms designed to support zero-trust architectures across distributed environments.
For manufacturers with global partner ecosystems, zero trust helps ensure that supplier connections cannot become pathways for attackers moving laterally through the network.
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