Cyber resilience: A business-critical priority for industrial manufacturers

In today’s hyperconnected industrial landscape, cyber resilience is no longer just a technical concern—it’s a business imperative. For manufacturers, the stakes are high: Production uptime, supply chain continuity, brand reputation, and regulatory compliance all hinge on the ability to withstand and to recover from cyberthreats.

This reality was made painfully clear in September 2025, when a major automotive manufacturer experienced a crippling cyberattack that shut down operations—including production lines—for nearly a month. The financial impact was staggering, with losses estimated in the tens of millions per day, highlighting how deeply cybersecurity is intertwined with business continuity in modern manufacturing. NetApp secures critical data to keep manufacturing operations resilient and running.

The manufacturing sector has become the number one target for ransomware attacks, accounting for 22% of all incidents globally in 2024. The reasons are clear: Manufacturers are rapidly digitizing operations, integrating IT and operational technology systems, and expanding their digital footprints—often faster than their cybersecurity defenses can keep up.
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According to recent research, 80% of manufacturing firms have critical vulnerabilities, including poor patch management, exposed credentials, and broken encryption protocols. These weaknesses make it easy for threat actors to infiltrate systems, to disrupt production, and to demand ransoms that can range from thousands to millions of dollars.

The consequences of a cyberattack in manufacturing are severe. In 2024 alone, manufacturers faced an average of 1,585 cyber attacks per organization per week, with ransomware accounting for 22% of all incidents globally. Downtime from these attacks ranged from a few hours to several weeks, with some companies losing millions of dollars in halted production and delayed shipments.

Beyond financial loss, the reputational damage from public exposure can be devastating. Customers, partners, and regulators expect manufacturers to safeguard sensitive data and to maintain operational continuity. Failure to do so can erode trust and jeopardize long-term business relationships.

As cyberthreats escalate, so do regulatory and OEM expectations. Manufacturers are now required to meet rigorous industry standards to protect their operations and data:

• Automotive. TISAX certification helps ensure secure handling of sensitive information across the supply chain.
• General manufacturing.  ISA/IEC 62443, ISO/IEC 27001, and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) provide comprehensive guidelines for securing industrial control systems and enterprise IT environments.

These standards are not just checkboxes—they’re essential for maintaining customer confidence and qualifying for OEM contracts.

To protect your manufacturing business, you need a strategic approach and a trusted partner. NetApp offers a proven framework to help manufacturers like you build resilience:

1. Assess your vulnerabilities
   Identify risks across your data, production systems, and supply chain partners. NetApp’s free vulnerability assessment can uncover hidden exposures and prioritize your remediation efforts.
2. Secure your storage layer
   Your last line of defense is your data infrastructure. NetApp helps your manufacturing organization align with TISAX, ISA/IEC 62443, ISO/IEC 27001, and NIST CSF to protect your sensitive data and to meet OEM security expectations.
3. Prepare for rapid recovery
   The NetApp^® Ransomware Recovery Guarantee ensures that your data can be restored—or you’ll be compensated. This level of assurance is critical to minimize downtime and financial loss.

When a global IT outage crippled organizations worldwide in July 2024, Thor Motor Coach remained operational. Thanks to a resilient NetApp infrastructure, all the company’s systems were restored before employees arrived at work. This transformation reduced infrastructure costs by 30% annually and enabled rapid recovery from potential threats—reducing days of downtime to just minutes.

NetApp cyber-resilience solutions are tailored for industrial environments like yours, with:

• Certified infrastructure that’s built to meet industry and OEM expectations.
• Proactive protection that detects and thwarts ransomware before it disrupts your operations.
• Rapid recovery to minimize downtime and financial impact if your organization is affected by ransomware.
• Data governance that streamlines compliance and helps you maintain business continuity.

Whether you're managing IoT sensor data, manufacturing execution systems, or enterprise resource planning platforms, NetApp provides the tools that you need to secure your data across edge, core, and cloud environments.

Don’t wait for a crisis to test your resilience. Contact NetApp today to:

• Request a free vulnerability assessment
• Get NetApp ransomware resilience—free for 6 months
• Book a free, tailored industry strategy session

Let’s keep your production protected—no matter what.

No ransomware detection or prevention system can completely guarantee safety from a ransomware attack. Although it’s possible that an attack might go undetected, NetApp technology acts as an important additional layer of defense.