Four in 10 of Britain’s manufacturers have been a victim of cyber crime over the last year, with more than a quarter of them reporting a financial loss as the result of an attack.
A report from the manufacturing trade group Make UK says that production stoppages were the most common result of a cyber attack, in 65% of cases.
The report also points out that as businesses adopt more digital technologies, their exposure to cyber security risk increases. However, just over half of respondents to a survey say they have not taken any further cyber security action despite adopting new technologies to boost production.
The main barriers to taking action include the initial outlay of installing new cyber security and the cost of maintaining systems.
But the need to keep systems up to date goes beyond simply protecting against attack: new customers are said to increasingly want reassurance from manufacturers about the cyber security they have in place before signing contracts.
“While cost remains the main barrier to companies installing cyber protection, the need to increase the use of the latest technology makes mounting a defence against cyber threats essential,” said Make UK’s chief executive Stephen Phipson.
“No business can afford to ignore this issue and while the increased awareness across the sector is encouraging, there is still much to be done.”
Among manufacturers who say they had suffered a cyber incident over the past 12 months, three quarters reported that their cyber security processes prevented any business impact.
The report also found that maintaining legacy IT presents the greatest cyber security risk, followed by businesses having limited security skills. A third risk involved providing third party companies with access to systems for the purposes of monitoring or maintenance.
The business survey was carried out in association with Blackberry.