Trend Micro Report Reveals 65% of Manufacturing Environments Run Outdated Operating Systems

Latest research details the unique business-critical threats facing converged IT-OT systems

HONG
KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – April
8, 2019 – Trend
Micro Incorporated
(TYO: 4704;TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, has announced
a new research that demonstrates the threats facing manufacturing networks
still running outdated technology, including risks to intellectual property and
production processes.

The
report,Securing
Smart Factories:Threats to
Manufacturing Environments in the Era of Industry 4.0,
outlines the security dimension of a new era for manufacturing driven by
IoT and connectivity everywhere. Manufacturers are heavily investing in the
convergence of traditional operational technology (OT) with IT networks in
2019, adding new technology to environments that are still vulnerable to more
than 10-year-old issues, like Conficker.

“Industry 4.0 offers unparalleled opportunities to
increase productivity, enhance process efficiencies,
and realize on-demand manufacturing, but it also dramatically alters the threat
risk model for these facilities,” said Steve Quane, Executive Vice President, Network Defense and Hybrid Cloud Security for Trend Micro. “As this research outlines, the
convergence of IT and OT could unwittingly have a serious impact on production
lines, and could lead to the loss of IP and competitive advantage. Trend Micro
will continue to support the industry by providing innovative AI-driven
solutions to protect business critical data
and processes across the connected world.”

The report highlights the unique
triple threat facing manufacturing, including the risks associated with IT, OT
and IP. Previously isolated operations networks are being connected to the IT
network to drive efficiencies, but this exposes insecure proprietary protocols
and potentially decades-old OT equipment that is often not patched frequently
enough because of its criticality. There is a harsh disparity between the
significant operations performed by these devices and the fact that they
operate for years with known vulnerabilities.

According to Gartner[1],
“OT networks and assets, and their security implications, were undiscovered and
unmanaged for many years. As a result, current OT networks are unsegmented with
a mix of production protocols, unidentified assets, legacy systems and devices.
These industrial components have many unsecure communication channels to
corporate/IT networks, and they utilize different vendor architectures and
security standards.”

In addition to maintaining legacy
infrastructure with known weaknesses, new vulnerabilities are being discovered
more frequently than ever before in these systems. Zero-day vulnerabilities
purchased in human-machine interfaces (HMIs) of industrial control systems
increased by more than 200 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Manufacturers are thus exposed to both
targeted and commodity malware, including cryptocurrency mining attacks that
could harm key production processes by consuming processing power and causing
network latency. Ransomware is also a major threat to manufacturers if the
attack affects production.

To help mitigate the impact of
Industry 4.0 threats, Trend Micro recommends manufacturers remember the basics
of cybersecurity, such as restricting user access and disabling directory
listings, as well as identifying and prioritizing key assets to protect.

To find out
more, read the complete report: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/hk/security/news/internet-of-things/security-in-the-era-of-industry-4-dealing-with-threats-to-smart-manufacturing-environments.  

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity
solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our
innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered
security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our
products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a
connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling
better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in over 50 countries
and the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables
organizations to secure their journey to the cloud. For more information,
visit www.trendmicro.com.hk.