Spear phishing was the highest cybersecurity risk to the manufacturing sector over the previous six months, in keeping with a report from ReliaQuest. These assaults accounted for 41% of true-positive alerts within the sector.
“Spear phishing stays a well-liked tactic for attackers concentrating on manufacturing firms—and it’s simple to see why,” ReliaQuest says. “It preys on the on a regular basis move of enterprise; attackers ship spear phishing emails that look routine—like a provider requesting cost—and watch for a misstep. And when that occurs, the implications are stark.”
These assaults are fueled by the rising availability of phishing kits, which allow attackers to launch refined assaults with little or no effort.
“Spear phishing assaults on manufacturing are set to double in 2025, pushed by the growing use of phishing kits and nation-state curiosity in industries like protection and aerospace,” the researchers write. “Discussions about phishing kits on cybercriminal boards surged by 136% in 2024, permitting attackers of all ability ranges to use manufacturing’s reliance on electronic mail for supply-chain and monetary transactions.”
The manufacturing sector was additionally a high goal for ransomware, with 370 victims within the fourth quarter of 2024.
“Why is manufacturing such a first-rate goal?” ReliaQuest writes. “Downtime is devastating—however that’s additionally true for sectors like well being care. What units manufacturing aside is its operational scale. One manufacturing line being compromised can disrupt total provide chains and trigger large monetary losses.
And as organizations more and more undertake IIoT gadgets to enhance OT visibility, the dangers develop exponentially. Many IIoT gadgets are tied to legacy OT programs that may’t be up to date, creating vulnerabilities which can be magnets for attackers. The mixture of large-scale operations, legacy vulnerabilities, and open provide chains makes manufacturing a goldmine for attackers—and the statistics present they’re cashing in.”
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ReliaQuest has the story.