By: Ken Keller, lead IT advisor, Pinion Technology Core
Cyber risk is no longer confined to stolen passwords or exposed data. A breach can halt production, compromise quality controls, disrupt fulfillment, and leave employees without the systems they need to work safely.
The consequences vary by industry. Manufacturing companies may lose critical safety and traceability records. Plants may lose operational visibility. Distributors may be unable to confirm inventory or keep deliveries on schedule.
Cybercriminals understand that operational pressure creates leverage. An attack during peak production, a plant turnaround, or a distributor’s busiest period leaves little time to investigate. Costs can extend beyond a ransom demand to lost output, delayed deliveries, damaged equipment, and weeks of recovery.
New Risks Live Between the Office and Operations
Modern operations are deeply connected. Business software exchanges data with production, inventory, and transportation systems, while vendors troubleshoot equipment remotely. These connections improve speed and visibility, but poorly controlled access can give an attacker a path from an office system into the technology that controls processes or keeps orders moving.
For equipment businesses, that disruption can reach beyond the dealership. If diagnostic tools, parts systems, or remote support go offline during a critical production window, customers may be left waiting on equipment they need to keep working.
Common exposure points include:
- Remote access that remains open, relies on shared credentials, or goes missing.
- Legacy equipment that cannot be patched easily but still connects to newer systems.
- Flat networks that allow an office-system incident to move toward operational assets.
- Connected devices and portals protected by weak settings, outdated software, or compromised accounts.
3 Steps to Protect Your Operation
1. Start With the Cost of Downtime
Start with one question: What would it cost if this process stopped today? The answer can help leaders focus on the weaknesses most likely to disrupt operations and delay recovery.
2. Build Resilience Around the Work That Cannot Stop
“The greatest risk often sits in the connections between business systems and operations. Understanding what is connected — and limiting how far an incident can travel — helps protect the processes the business cannot afford to lose,” said Ken Keller, lead IT advisor, Pinion Technology Core.
- Map critical operations. Identify what the business needs to maintain production or storage, verify quality, and fulfill orders. Prioritize dependencies by their safety, operational, and customer impact.
- Know what is connected. Document operational equipment and devices, who owns them, what they communicate with, and whether they are still supported.
- Separate and secure access. Limit movement from office systems into operations. Require individual accounts and multifactor authentication and remove vendor access when work ends.
- Protect operational records. Back up the configurations and data needed to restore equipment safely, verify product or inventory, and resume fulfillment.
- Practice the outage. Decide what can continue manually, what must stop, and who makes that call. Test alternate workflows and restoration priorities before an incident.
3. Create a Disaster Recovery Plan
Cyber insurance may cover some costs, but it cannot determine whether equipment is safe to restart, records can be trusted, or customer orders should move. Those decisions require a coordinated response across technology, operations, risk, and leadership.
Before an incident, clarify who can isolate systems, pause operations, communicate with customers, and approve a return to service. Set restoration priorities and define how critical equipment and information will be validated. Restarting quickly matters; restarting safely and accurately matters more.
“With the advent of AI, cyber risks only continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, and less noticeable,” cautions Keller. “As important as taking protective measures against cyberattacks is for your business, it’s just as important now to have a plan to react quickly and mitigate situations if they occur within your operation or via your supply chain network.”
Pinion Technology Core helps manufacturers and distributors assess risks and build a response plan around how your unique operation actually runs. Prevent. Protect. Plan.
