30 n COMMUNICATIONS AND SECURITY June 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com How to protect your factory against cyberattacks In February 2024, five production plants at German battery manufacturer Varta came to a grinding halt. A cyberattack had infiltrated its operational technology (OT) systems, forcing the company to disconnect critical infrastructure. A few months later, the US-based forklift manufacturer Crown Equipment suffered a similar fate, with a breach disrupting its manufacturing operations across multiple sites. While Industry 4.0 focused on automation, IoT and data-driven smart factories, Industry 5.0 is shifting the focus towards greater human-machine collaboration, sustainability and resilience. Instead of replacing human expertise, advanced robotics and AI are being integrated to work alongside people. Smart factories now use cloud-connected robotics, sensors and IoT devices to drive innovation, but this heightened connectivity also increases vulnerability to cyberthreats, making robust OT security more critical than ever. Manufacturing operations that once relied on isolated, air-gapped systems are now highly networked. A single breach can cause catastrophic disruption, halting assembly lines, corrupting product quality or even compromising intellectual property. In fact, industrial cyberattacks have increased by 75% in the past year alone. Cybercriminals are exploiting OT vulnerabilities for two main reasons: financial gain and industrial sabotage. Ransomware attacks on manufacturing firms can be highly lucrative, with downtime costs reaching as high as millions per day, forcing businesses to pay to regain control of their systems. Attacks on production lines can alter robotic and automation functions subtly, resulting in defective products or compliance failures that may go undetected until costly recalls are required. Manufacturers often assume their familiar IT security tools – firewalls, endpoint detection and antivirus protection – will extend to OT environments. But they won’t always. Unlike IT systems, most OT environments were never designed with cybersecurity in mind. Many factories are run using outdated control systems that are incompatible with modern security protocols. OT networks prioritise uptime over security, meaning vulnerabilities remain unpatched for long periods to avoid Cybercriminals are no longer just targeting IT networks; they're also attacking the robots and industrial equipment that keep factories running. Nathan Charles, head of sales at cybersecurity specialist OryxAlign, explains how industrial companies can protect their systems. Modern factories can be vulnerable to destructive and costly cyberattacks
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