Exponential-e says manufacturers should keep systems off the public internet

Following the recent news that almost half of manufacturers have failed to invest in cyber security in the past two years - despite two thirds of UK businesses having been hit by a cyber attack in the past year - Simon Acott, Business and Partner Development Director at Exponential-e, has offered the following comment:

“The challenges facing the UK’s manufacturing sector extend far beyond the out-of-date security and under-educated employees that risk compromising IT systems. 

“Today’s global marketplace is exposing the limits of manufacturers’ supply chain practices. Increasingly UK manufacturers need to be able to scale, shift and contract operations depending on market requirements all over the world. This shift is driving the adoption of superfast cloud and networking services that can support intelligent supply chains and facilitate changes in customer demand. However, where there is an opportunity there is also risk with connected devices and public cloud services opening up new avenues of attack. 

“Alongside investing in security policies and tools, increasingly connected manufacturers must act now to ensure their systems are safe. Moving critical processes onto private network infrastructure that ensures sensitive information is not sent over the public internet and remains on the safe side of the firewall is half the battle. Manufacturers also need to introduce policies and processes that maintain the integrity of networks. By exercising due diligence and contracting with third party providers that have certified platforms and a rich portfolio of advanced security services, manufacturers will be able to build collaborative networks that connect with other trading partners but avoid the risk of being exposed.”

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