Exploring Manufacturing’s Cyber Resilience Disconnect

Manufacturing IT/OT environments face an era of rising threats

As the backbone of global economies, manufacturing depends on smooth, continuous operations. However, the sector is facing more advanced cyberthreats than ever. While IT/OT convergence fuels innovation, it also creates vulnerabilities that can disrupt entire supply chains.

In this ebook, we dive into new research to explore how manufacturers are preparing for these challenges. We also explore a four-step, zero trust manufacturing blueprint designed to protect operations, prevent disruptions, and help leaders build resilience at every level.

4 core challenges are testing manufacturers’ resilience

Manufacturers face a massive volume of threats, including 42.3% of global encrypted attacks. This stems from four key challenges:

1. IT/OT interconnectivity expands the attack surface.
AI, the cloud, and Industry 4.0 technologies like IIoT are transforming the sector, but their hyperconnectivity widens the attack surface. Legacy firewalls, air gapping, and network segmentation aren’t enough to protect OT devices from vulnerabilities in cloud integrations, remote access, and outdated infrastructure.

2. VPNs create serious risk around remote access.
Much of the sector relies on virtual private networks (VPNs) to grant third-party contractors access to OT systems. Unfortunately, VPNs expose the entire network to attackers, who can infiltrate and target critical systems if they obtain valid user credentials.

3. IIoT and connected mobile devices leave visibility gaps.
The rapid growth of IIoT creates blind spots in security. Teams struggle to detect unusual or malicious activity, enforce policies, and secure sensitive data. Our research shows 36% of all IoT malware attacks target manufacturers.

4. Lack of granular segmentation enables lateral movement.
Broad network access gives attackers easy access to entire environments from as little as one compromised endpoint. This can disrupt critical production lines, increase risks of downtime, and magnify the impact of a breach.

See the complete details of these challenges in the full 11-page ebook →

Bridging resilience gaps begins in 3 key areas

Resilience by design starts with processes, infrastructure, and people—areas where our research found major resilience gaps. Here are a few of the insights we gleaned from our survey of 323 manufacturing IT leaders:

• Processes: While 96% of manufacturers have a cyber resilience strategy, only 34% integrate it into broader business practices. Leadership often focuses on prevention over recovery, leading to weak mitigation efforts. Misaligned budgets and a lack of clear KPIs further weaken strategies.
• Infrastructure: Zero trust adoption is rising (71%), but many manufacturers use a mix of outdated tools that complicate IT/OT security and drive up costs. This patchwork approach makes environments vulnerable to AI-driven threats and security gaps.
• People: While 95% of manufacturers claim a culture of resilience, this is largely driven by teams, not leaders. More than half (51%) of professionals feel their employers don’t care about personal resilience, eroding confidence and slowing response times when risks arise.

A 4-step zero trust blueprint for resilient manufacturing

Fortifying operations against cyberthreats requires a proactive, modern approach to resilience. Zscaler’s Resilient by Design framework offers four practical steps to help manufacturers address cyber risks while staying agile:

1. Reduce the attack surface. Shrink the number of potential targets by segmenting IT/OT environments and using zero trust practices.
2. Enable secure cloud access. Securely connect cloud and enterprise systems to improve visibility and safeguard operations without disruptions.

Get our complete recommendations and best practices for resilient manufacturing by downloading the full ebook!

Zscaler is your cyber resilience partner

As threats evolve and industrial systems grow more and more interconnected, manufacturers need a proactive security strategy. By becoming Resilient by Design, your organization can replace outdated tools like firewalls and VPNs, reduce costs and risks, and gain the agility to seamlessly scale and comply with global demands.

Download the full ebook, Confident But Still Exposed: Exploring Manufacturing’s Cyber Resilience Disconnect, for deeper insights, including:

• Full, actionable details of our Resilient by Design approach
• Data on industry leaders’ perspectives and emerging trends
• Strategies to align leadership priorities with cyber resilience goals
• Emerging AI risks and how they impact IT-OT ecosystems
• The hidden costs of complexity in patchwork security solutions