When we think of cybersecurity, many of us think of Government agencies, Financial institutions or holders of personal data; but Manufacturers must too be in the conversation when discussing risks.

Cyber incidents have become a major problem for large corporations, small businesses and individuals alike. No one is immune from a potential attack, which means everyone in an organization must play a role in safeguarding assets.

Ransomware remains a top threat for manufacturing companies. Ransomware attacks have increased 239% since 2019. The cost for a business to recover from an attack has increased 228%.

Ransomware is a malicious software that locks computer files by encrypting them. The attacker then requests a payment (ransom) in exchange for releasing the files.

The federal government now treats ransomware to the same degree it treats terrorism.  With the Colonial Pipeline incident in May of 2021, for instance, increasing awareness of these issues have come to the forefront.  While the Colonial Pipeline is just one example as it paid 4.5 million in bitcoin to regain control of their company, smaller scale companies have been held for ransom with number ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 or sometimes as large as $100,000.

Please join us for this important conversation on how to protect your company from these ransomware attacks as well as other cyber threats that your company may be susceptible to.

Panelist:


Richard Sullivan
MassMEP

Rich has an engineering and manufacturing background, as well as experience working for several information security companies. He heads up MassMEP’s advanced manufacturing technology and cybersecurity programs and is active within the NIST-MEP working groups on those initiatives. Rich co-developed a pragmatic and cost-effective approach for small-medium size manufacturers in the DoD supply chain to comply with DFARS and CMMC guidelines, and actively seeks state and federal funding to help ease that burden for companies in this challenging business climate.