Six out of 10 manufacturers said they expect to achieve full digitalization within the next two years. As consolidation between production equipment and systems expands, cyberattacks are emerging as a core management risk for manufacturing, leading to production shutdowns and delivery delays, according to an analysis.
Kaspersky released the "Cyber resilience for manufacturing" report, co-authored with VDC Strategy, on the 31st.
According to the report, only 9% of manufacturers currently rated themselves as fully digitalized corporations. However, 60% of respondents expected to achieve full digitalization within the next two years.
The biggest reason manufacturers are driving digital transformation is to increase output or production efficiency, accounting for 24% of total responses. Cutting operating and production expense followed at 15%, while creating new strategic opportunities and strengthening cyber resilience each came in at 14% and 13%.
As digital transformation gains momentum, shop-floor equipment and production lines are being consolidated with various platforms such as manufacturing execution systems (MES), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) sensors. As a result, the likelihood that cyberattacks or system failures will lead to physical damage—such as slower production speeds, product quarantine, compromised traceability records, and production shutdowns—is also growing.
In fact, about 60% of manufacturers estimated that a single cyber incident could cause damage exceeding $1 million (about 1.4 billion won). The average downtime from cyber incidents was found to be 15.3 hours. The main losses stemmed from production shutdowns, delivery delays, and related penalties, rather than forensic expense.
To resume production after an incident, manufacturers must not only restart systems but also revalidate the reliability of process parameters, quality records, and product traceability information. Taking this recovery process into account, the report recommended incorporating operational technology (OT) security into corporations' governance and managing recovery time, backup reliability, and the security coverage of legacy asset together.
Dividing roles among departments was cited as an issue to be addressed. Among those surveyed corporations, 59% had the IT department managing security policies, but those policies at times failed to fully reflect shop-floor conditions. The shares of corporations that cited managing multiple security tools and OT patch management as major pain points reached 44% and 38%, respectively.
Lee Hyo-eun, Korea country manager at Kaspersky, said, "While many domestic factories prioritize digital transformation, they are neglecting protection of OT security on the shop floor," and added, "In manufacturing, cybersecurity goes beyond mere regulatory compliance; it is a key element of stable production and sustainable business operations." Lee continued, "Through our integrated security solution that breaks down the walls between IT and OT security, we will help domestic manufacturers pursue digital transformation safely and maintain strong operational resilience."