For the fourth year in a row, manufacturing has ranked as the most-targeted industry for ransomware attacks, even as overall malware volumes decline. Hackers are zeroing in on operational technology (OT) networks, which saw an 87% increase in ransomware incidents between 2023-2024.
It’s not hard to see why. With numerous interconnected systems and low tolerance for downtime, the sector is a perfect storm of vulnerability. A single attack can stop production, sever logistics links and collapse supply chains. The business impact of unplanned downtime is staggering and can cost manufacturers at least $50 billion every year. These massive financial and operational damages can be avoided with the right kind of maintenance and resilience-focused strategies.
Traditional security tactics aren’t cutting it. Cybercriminals are bypassing perimeter defenses, encrypting backups, and locking up critical systems before teams can react. To start minimizing ransomware attacks, manufacturers need to rethink what security is really for: keeping operations running, no matter what.
In other words, it’s time to prioritize cyber resilience as a strategy. Thinking defensively is no longer enough.
Why manufacturers are in the crosshairs
Ransomware has evolved into a professional operation. Sophisticated actors, ranging from financially motivated groups to state-backed operators, target industrial systems not just for payouts but for maximum disruption.
Legacy, and mostly physical OT systems, are becoming increasingly connected to broader enterprise IT networks to enable real-time data and analytics. While this convergence brings operational benefits, it also greatly expands the attack surface. Attackers are exploiting these cracks and will continue to do so.
Why traditional backups and recovery systems won’t save you
Most organizations have some form of backup process in place, but few are prepared for a ransomware attack that encrypts both primary systems and backup repositories. Many industrial environments still rely on outdated and even manual backup and disaster recovery systems that often take hours or even days to restore.
Cloud-based backups often reside on the same networks targeted by ransomware, and even local backups can be rendered useless if infected early in a breach. Recovery typically requires technical intervention, full system patching, and painstaking configuration, all while production remains offline.
Despite rising cyber risk, only 2% of organizations have implemented cyber resilience measures across all critical areas, according to PwC. At the same time, two-thirds of security leaders report that GenAI has expanded their organization’s cyber-attack surface over the past year. This disconnect highlights how vulnerable even the most advanced supply chain operations remain, even as threats multiply.
That’s where instant recovery strategies come in.
Why recovery-focused security is changing everything
When a manufacturer halts operations, the ripple effects are immediate. Downstream suppliers stop. Distribution delays explode. Contracts vanish. In today’s just-in-time supply chain environments, even minor outages can be costly.
This is why cyber resilience, which helps ensure manufacturers stay online even when attackers infiltrate, must be built into every security approach. Some best practices for developing a recovery-first strategy include:
- Real-time, comprehensive monitoring across endpoints and backup posture
- Simple solutions that can be easily operated by all roles
- Air-gapped backups for all critical IT/OT systems to ensure verified backup integrity
- Segmented networks to prevent lateral movement
- Regular recovery drills to test readiness
What does good cyber resilience look like?
To achieve true cyber resilience, manufacturers need failover, or the ability to restore entire systems within minutes, not hours, from isolated, uncompromised sources.
One important aspect is air-gapped backups, which are physically separated from operational networks and thus immune to ransomware encryption. When paired with rapid recovery components like autonomous operation, constant endpoint monitoring, and direct reboots, these setups can reduce weeks of disruption to minutes of recovery.
For example, in 2024, a chemical plant in Central Europe suffered a ransomware breach that encrypted several control terminals. With an instant backup and recovery platform in place, the facility restored operations in under a minute per endpoint, avoiding a full shutdown and maintaining compliance with EU safety standards.
In another case, a major international port used real-time monitoring across hundreds of endpoints and rapid recovery systems to simulate a cyber incident affecting cranes and logistics systems. Full system recovery took under a minute. Had the port relied on existing backups, the outage could have lasted for days, causing a massive nationwide crisis, disrupting national shipping routes, and costing millions.
Compliance is raising the bar
New mandates like the EU’s NIS2 (Network and Information Systems) directive and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) are transforming the parameters for industrial cybersecurity. Organizations must now prove not only that they’ve implemented measures to help prevent cyberattacks, but that they can instantly and completely recover from them.
Rapid and air-gap-based backup and recovery systems that include real-time monitoring, audit logs, backup validation checks, and automated testing tools are quickly becoming essential for compliance amid tightening regulations.
The bottom line
In a world where digital threats move faster and deeper than ever, cyberattacks are inevitable. But disruption, and the devastating impacts that come with it, don’t have to be. With the average global cost of a breach in manufacturing now exceeding $4.9 million, resilience is critical.
By embedding resilience into their operations through air-gapped backups, instant cyber recovery, and real-time visibility, manufacturers can shift from reactive to proactive security and develop a truly comprehensive strategy. They can maintain uptime, protect revenue, and ensure continuous trust between partners and customers.
In today’s supply chains, the companies that bounce back fastest are the ones that stay ahead and remain trustworthy. Which side will your organization be on?
