Derek E. Brink, CISSP, an expert in IT Security connected with the Aberdeen Group has cited a recent report that explores the challenges that the manufacturing industry and its companies are facing today. He leverages data sourced from over 17,000 American and Canadian manufacturers. It seems that these manufacturers are increasingly embracing digital transformation. In doing so, they are faced with two significant challenges.
The Two Major Challenges Confronting Today’s Manufacturers.
- The number one challenge that manufacturers are grappling with today is how to manage the requirements and the functions of an increasingly varied portfolio of users and applications.
- The second challenge involves the persistent and constantly evolving compliance and security risks that is related to or attendant to the expanding access of users.
These two issues are the top priority concerns of all Compliance Officer, CISO, IT Manager and CIO who are eager to join the digital transformation bandwagon. In relation to this, there is a need to understand the important elements that IT and security teams have to consider in their development and deployment of an access and identity management strategy including the inclusion of single sign on and multifactor authentication features. Here are four of the vital points that manufacturers need to consider.
- Manufacturers are being slowed down by the operational costs.
Manufacturers are usually slowed down by the expensive operational costs of their conventional identity management. There are many factors that cause the delay of user productivity and obstruct the flow of IT. Brink believes that the impact of old access and identity management protocols to be around $3.5 million to manufacturers. The alternative, according to Brink is using just one platform of Identity and Access Management to make the process more cost-effective.
- Cyber-attacks are getting common and expensive.
There is a wealth of information at the hands of manufacturers. This makes them primary targets for phishing and cyber-attacks. The 2017 DBIR affirmed that manufacturers are facing higher volumes of cybercrimes compared to other industries. Brink even said that there is a 90 percent probability that one data breach can cost a manufacturer over $190K and a 10 percent probability that the same breach can cost over $750K.
- Balancing Usability And Security Is The Key
Manufacturers should have as their primary objective the balancing of usability and security of their Identity and Access Management processes. It is great to expand user access because it can mean the agility and flexibility in business. However, if it is not correctly deployed and executed, it can be a double-edged sword. Brink warns manufacturers by referring to the 2017 Data Breach Investigation Reports which revealed that the percentage of data breaches that involved compromised, stolen or weak user credentials ranged from 80 to 90 percent.
- Access of Third Parties Are Continuously Expanding
According to Brink, the respondents in the study conducted by Aberdeen Group in 2017 revealed that around a third of all manufacturers are providing access to over 25 third-party groups. In addition, the study also discovered that around 10 percent of the respondents said that they are collaborating with over 200 external partners. As third party users continue to increase, it is very important for manufacturers to understand the costs and probability of growing security threats