If you guessed manufacturing, you’re right. High sensitivity to operational disruption combined with chronic IT and security staffing shortages make manufacturers an incredibly attractive target.
A new Sophos report highlights a mixed picture. The good news: manufacturers are stopping more ransomware attacks before data gets encrypted. The bad news: attackers have adapted. They’re pivoting to data theft and extortion-only tactics to keep the pressure on. More than half of manufacturing organizations that did suffer encryption ended up paying the ransom—a median payment of $1 million—despite improvements in defensive tools and processes.
And that’s just the ransom.
The average cost of recovering from a ransomware attack—excluding ransom payments—is now $1.3 million. While 58% of manufacturers recovered within one week, the combined median impact reaches $2.3 million, before factoring in supply chain fallout or reputational damage.
For the first time in three years, exploited vulnerabilities overtook all other causes as the primary root of manufacturing compromises.
But what does “exploited vulnerabilities” actually mean?
Think of every piece of software or hardware you buy as potentially having small gaps—security weaknesses that can be introduced accidentally or, in rare cases, intentionally. Reputable vendors scan and test their products to detect these gaps, and many run formal bug bounty programs that pay ethical hackers to find what automated tools miss.
When vulnerabilities are discovered, vendors issue patches—software updates that close those gaps.
But here’s the catch:
It’s up to you, the owner or operator, to actually install those patches.
And that’s where most organizations fall behind. Not because they don’t care, but because patching is a grind. You’re not managing a single application—you’re managing dozens or hundreds. Reading CVEs, scheduling updates, validating compatibility, coordinating maintenance windows… it’s tedious and time-consuming. So it gets deprioritized.
Yet most successful attacks exploit vulnerabilities that have been publicly known—and patched—for years.
Layer on top of that a rapidly changing technology landscape. Manufacturers are aggressively adopting AI and robotics to create intelligent, automated factories. That means more data, more interconnected systems, more operational technology, and a much larger attack surface. AI enhances productivity, but it also raises the stakes: compromised data or disrupted OT doesn’t just delay work—it halts production.
Think of it this way: you wouldn’t build a brand-new home and leave the doors unlocked. But buying new tech without securing it is exactly that.
The majority of successful attacks leverage vulnerabilities that have been known and patched for years.
This shouldn’t keep happening.
Manufacturers have already invested heavily in their operations; securing those investments is the logical next step. Modern SMB-friendly tools make it possible to centralize and automate patching, vulnerability remediation, and compliance enforcement across diverse endpoints and third-party applications.
Solutions like HCL BigFix, Microsoft Intune, ManageEngine Endpoint Central, NinjaOne, Ivanti Neurons, Automox, and Tanium offer scalable, cross-platform, automated protection for on-prem, cloud, and remote environments.
If patching feels overwhelming, it’s because it is. But ignoring it is no longer an option. The threat landscape has evolved—and operational resilience depends on evolving with it.
