SASE combines single-point security solutions into a cloud-based service. This reduces the number of vendors, makes the system more scalable and centralized, and gives administrators a detailed view of the network with nuanced administrative features. Instead of routing traffic to your data center, SASE inspects it at the nearest points of presence (PoP) or edge servers. It also uses user identity and context to determine security policies.
Data Loss
The manufacturing sector generates vast amounts of data that cyberattacks, technology infrastructure failures, natural disasters, or human error can compromise. Such data loss can devastate production, quality control and decision-making processes. Losing business-critical information can also increase costs and lead to extended downtime, resulting in lost revenue and productivity.
Manufacturing companies can improve security and protect data from attack by leveraging SASE, which converges best-of-breed network access and security capabilities into a single, cloud-based service. This eliminates the need for a complex array of tools from multiple vendors, making it easier to implement, manage and update.
SASE particularly benefits the modern workforce, which has adopted a hybrid work paradigm and uses multiple cloud-based applications. SASE solutions allow workers to connect to business applications via any network – public Wi-Fi, VPN or private LAN – with secure, low-latency connectivity that meets application requirements.
SASE technologies include a secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB) and zero trust network access (ZTNA). These services are typically delivered as a single, cloud-based service that assesses the identity of users, devices and applications on a real-time basis, including their location. Only sanctioned, approved apps can access company networks, minimizing the attack surface and preventing malware from spreading inside a network.
Cyber Attacks
As an industry that handles highly sensitive and proprietary information, the manufacturing sector is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Threat actors often target manufacturing companies to gain access to valuable data, infiltrate and manipulate operational technology (OT) environments and disrupt business processes. This has become a real concern for manufacturing companies as recent events such as the 2021 REvil ransomware attack on JBS meatpacking plants, the 2022 LockBit ransomware attack on Bridgestone tires and the 2022 Conti ransomware attack on Nordex wind turbines demonstrate.
These cyber-attacks can lead to production delays and disruptions, costing the company millions in lost revenue. Moreover, they can also compromise the company’s reputation and jeopardize the safety of employees.
Manufacturers must take proactive measures to protect their sensitive information against these attacks. They can start by deploying an end-to-end cybersecurity solution like Versa Networks to detect and halt malicious activity. This will not only prevent costly data breaches but also ensure the continuity of business operations.
As manufacturers move toward a cloud-based work paradigm, they must also modernize their networks and security to support these new requirements. This means shifting to a secure access service edge (SASE) framework. SASE is a comprehensive network security architecture that uses a Zero Trust approach to verify the identity of users, devices and applications before trusting them on or off the corporate network.
Identity Theft
Manufacturing companies often rely on third-party software to run their business operations. In some cases, these applications can be used to gain access to the organization’s systems, infiltrate them and launch attacks. The costs of a cyber attack can be devastating for manufacturers. It can affect the brand’s reputation, cost production time and cause a loss of revenue. In addition, the personal information of employees and customers may be compromised, and sensitive data such as designs or process innovations can be stolen.
To mitigate these risks, a secure SASE architecture can be an effective solution. This approach simplifies the network and eliminates the need for complex and costly MPLS lines to connect offices and data centers. In addition, it can support cloud applications, mobile users and distributed workforces with a single network infrastructure.
SASE solutions also offer a range of security functions, including firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS), secure web gateway, zero-trust network access (ZTNA) and more. This converged model reduces complexity by consolidating various security tools into one service, providing more efficient and secure connections to business applications and the Internet.
In addition, leading SASE services can offer improved performance and reduced latency by routing traffic to POPs closest to the user’s location. In this way, these solutions can protect against various attacks, including man-in-the-middle interceptions and spoofing.
Fraud
Fraud is an ever-present risk for manufacturers, from employee theft of inventory and supplies to bribery and corruption. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the average company loses 5% of annual revenue to fraud. Manufacturing businesses are especially vulnerable to supply chain fraud, ranging from stolen raw materials or shipments that never appear on the shop floor to duplicate purchase orders and false invoices. They’re also susceptible to employee travel expenses and warranty claims fraud.
Security teams need a better way to prevent these threats from entering the network and impacting critical systems, data, and employees. This requires advanced threat intelligence that learns from attack patterns, automatically identifies the infrastructure being staged for the next attack, and blocks it before it even hits your network.
SASE converges best-of-breed security and SD-WAN capabilities as a single, cloud-based service to enable high-performance connectivity for users to apps, data and devices anywhere in the world. This allows you to reduce the number of point solutions and vendors you deal with, gain centralized policy management and local enforcement, lower costs and complexity, and increase agility by enabling Zero Trust network access (ZTNA). ZTNA is an identity-based security model that verifies user identity and provides secure direct connections from end users to applications without entering your internal network perimeter.
