According to a survey of businesses IT managers worldwide, 21% of manufacturers suffered a loss of intellectual property (IP) within the past year. Malware was the most common cause of data loss incidents for manufactures, although other types of cyber-incidents – including software vulnerabilities, theft of mobile devices, network intrusion, etc. – were also cited as sources IP leakage.
In a highly competitive global economy, businesses rise to leadership or sink into bankruptcy on very slim profit margins. Most often, a business’s most decisive advantage comes in the form of Research & Development insight or a proprietary high-tech solution which, in the case of manufacturers, can help businesses produce items more efficiently than their competitors. If a competitor is able to obtain this insight, especially without incurring the initial R&D costs, then that competitor now has a significant business advantage.
The manufacturing industry clearly understands the importance of securing their intellectual property. The survey found that manufacturers ranked “Internal Operational Information” and “Intellectual Property” as the two types of non-financial data they fear losing the most. Interestingly, manufacturers ranked the fear of losing “Customer/Client Information” the lowest out of all business segments, most likely because manufacturing facilities are less likely to store this information in the first place.
When asked about the cause of their most serious data loss event within the past 12 months, “Malware” was the most common cause, cited by 23% of manufacturers. Manufactures also reported other sources of incidents leading to data loss, including “Software Vulnerabilities” (8%), “Network Intrusion” (8%), “Information Leaked on Mobile Devices” (5%), and “Targeted Attacks” (3%).
Kaspersky Lab today offers a number of security technologies to control applications, close software vulnerabilities and maintain control over mobile devices, and offers unmatched insight into cyber- threats targeting industrial control systems. To protect the specific needs of manufacturing, industrial and critical infrastructure environments, Kaspersky Lab is leading the development of the world’s first secure operating system for industrial control systems, and today offers a custom- designed version of the company’s endpoint security software, designed for manufacturing and industrial settings. Kaspersky Lab also offers the Kaspersky Industrial Protection Simulation to help organizations train for cyber-attacks that could affect the infrastructure of their facility.
This data was obtained through a survey, conducted by Kaspersky Lab in partnership with B2B International, of nearly 4,000 IT managers across 27 countries. Kaspersky Lab has published summaries of key findings organized by topic, including reports on Data Security Risks, Online Financial Fraud, and Virtualization Security.
