San Antonio Express News interviewed local manufacturing companies to learn more about the growing threat of cyber attacks.
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In what some have called the fourth industrial revolution and the Internet of Things, manufacturing is quickly becoming more automated and digitally connected. These changes have a range of benefits, such as greater optimization, efficiency and more data collection, said Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo. Choo holds the cloud technology endowed professorship in the University of Texas at San Antonio’s College of Business Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security.
But the changing landscape also presents security concerns for companies and their vendors. More Internet-connected devices that are collecting data mean there are “many more ways” for people to get in, Choo said. Data can be stolen for corporate espionage or production processes can be disrupted, he said.
Sara Vitopil, an apprentice at Cox Mfg, holds a computer pin part that she machined.
San Antonio-based Cox Manufacturing is a supplier for Lockheed Martin, and about two years ago the aerospace giant gave the company a survey to complete to ensure they meet certain security standards, said president Bill Cox. They found they “were at roughly 30 percent of what we needed to be,” Cox said.
One of the next steps was hiring a third-party white hat hacker and the company later achieved the necessary score for the survey, Cox said. They’re currently in the process of getting a quote for cyber liability insurance, and educating employees to recognize red flags is an ongoing priority, he said.
“We are vigilant and we don’t take it lightly,” Cox said. “In the future, it is probably going to be a much bigger risk.”
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