Inside the Surge of Cyber Attacks Targeting Manufacturing

Introduction

Manufacturing organisations are operating in an increasingly hostile digital environment. As production systems become more connected and supply chains more digitised, attackers are finding new opportunities to disrupt operations, steal sensitive data, and extort businesses at scale.

This growing exposure is reflected in the latest threat data. In October 2025, organisations globally faced an average of 1,938 cyber-attacks per week, continuing a sustained upward trend. This represented a 2% increase from September and a 5% rise year-on-year, underscoring how cyber risk is intensifying across all sectors.

For industrial manufacturing, the picture is even more concerning. The sector recorded a 6% increase in attacks, reinforcing its position as one of the most persistently targeted industries worldwide. Cybersecurity firms consistently rank manufacturing as the most attacked of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors recognised by the US government, driven by its reliance on operational technology, legacy systems, and complex supplier ecosystems.

Manufacturing was the most targeted industry for the third consecutive year, accounting for 22% of the 4,853 cyber attacks where sector attribution was possible. For manufacturers, this trend is no longer theoretical. It is a clear signal that cyber defence must be treated as a core operational and business resilience priority, not just a technical concern.

Why Manufacturing Continues To Attract Attackers

• High operational impact
  Disruption to production lines can halt output, delay deliveries, and cause significant financial loss.

• Convergence of IT and OT
  Increasing connectivity between enterprise IT systems and operational technology expands the attack surface.

• Legacy and unpatched systems
  Older machinery and control systems are often difficult to secure or update consistently.

• Complex supply chains
  Third-party access and supplier dependencies create additional entry points for attackers.

• Ransomware profitability
  The pressure to resume operations quickly makes manufacturers prime targets for extortion-led attacks.

The Growing Risk Of Opportunistic And Targeted Attacks

Manufacturers are facing a dual threat landscape, where broad, opportunistic campaigns coexist with highly targeted intrusions designed to disrupt operations or extract maximum value. This combination significantly increases both the likelihood and potential impact of cyber incidents across the sector.

Defending against these threats is made harder by the technical and economic realities unique to manufacturing environments. Modern production ecosystems rely on a mix of enterprise systems, industrial control technologies, and connected devices, many of which were not originally designed with cybersecurity in mind.

As IT and OT environments become increasingly intertwined, business functions such as finance and HR now operate alongside systems that control machinery, production lines, and physical infrastructure. The growing use of IoT-enabled sensors and connected equipment further expands the attack surface, creating new opportunities for adversaries to move across environments.

To reduce exposure, manufacturers must adopt proactive data protection strategies focused on their most critical assets. Without consistent visibility into what data matters most, sensitive information can remain unnecessarily exposed. Risk-based data classification and end-to-end encryption help protect high-value data across cloud, on-premise, and hybrid environments, reducing the potential impact of a successful breach.

Why CYJAX: The Competitive Advantage in Manufacturing Cybersecurity

Chemours, a global chemicals and manufacturing leader, utilise CYJAX to understand the most relevant and important intelligence that affects their environment. Integrating into their wider security stack, CYJAX plays a pivotal role in giving context to threat landscape whilst also providing investigative expertise

In the current threat landscape, defending manufacturing environments requires a unique blend of real-time threat visibility, contextual analysis, and proactive intelligence - not just alerts. CYJAX is uniquely positioned to deliver this because:

1. Tailored, Analyst-Enriched Threat Intelligence

CYJAX doesn’t just feed data - it delivers contextualised, prioritised cyber threat intelligence that cuts through noise and gives security teams insight into the threats that matter most to them. This is critical for complex manufacturing environments where IT and OT converge and legacy systems create unique exposure points.

• Analyst-validated insights: Threat data is curated and verified by expert analysts, reducing false positives and giving teams actionable intelligence they can trust.
• Prioritised for action: Instead of overwhelming teams with generic feeds, CYJAX highlights threats relevant to your sector, systems, and operational risk profile.

This approach helps security and operations leaders make faster and more confident decisions, a significant advantage as the manufacturing sector faces escalating and sophisticated threats.

2. Proactive Risk Detection and Early Warning

Manufacturers are now among the most attacked sectors globally, with ransomware, phishing, and supply chain compromise leading the surge.  CYJAX’s platform continuously monitors open, deep, and dark web sources to identify emerging threats before they disrupt operations.

• Early identification: Get warnings on emerging vulnerabilities and threat actor activity affecting OT/IT environments.
• Sector-specific intelligence: Detailed insights into attack trends tailored to industrial and operational contexts.

This early warning capability gives manufacturing leaders precious time to adjust defences, prioritise resources, and improve resilience, turning intelligence into a competitive advantage.

3. Seamless Integration With Your Security Stack

CYJAX’s intelligence can be embedded directly into existing security workflows and tools including SIEM, SOAR, and SOC operations enabling teams to act on threat data where they already operate.

• Fits existing systems: Intelligence delivered in formats that integrate with your SOC processes and dashboards.
• Enhanced SOC effectiveness: Rapid threat validation helps security teams respond faster and more accurately.

This means organisations don’t need to overhaul technology stacks, they enhance what they already have, with context and clarity provided by CYJAX.

4. Acts as an Extension of Your Security Team

Many manufacturing organisations struggle with constrained security resources. CYJAX addresses this with a service model that effectively augments internal teams:

• Extended capability: CYJAX becomes a strategic partner in your security operations, multiplying detection and response capability without the need to hire more staff.
• Board-ready intelligence: Delivering concise insights that can be used in executive reporting and strategic planning.

This model is especially powerful for mid-sized manufacturers who lack large in-house cyber teams but still need sophisticated, context-rich cyber threat intelligence.

Final Note...

To counter today’s unprecedented surge in manufacturing cyber attacks, organisations need more than alerts, they need contextual threat intelligence that drives action. CYJAX delivers exactly that: tailored, analyst-enriched insights that transform raw data into operational advantage. If you’re responsible for production continuity, supply chain security, or operational resilience, see how CYJAX empowers organisations to detect threats earlier, respond faster, and reduce risk across IT and OT environments, all while enhancing team capability without ballooning headcount.

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