This is an original article from NIST Manufacturing Innovation Blog.

Cybersecurity threats are a huge business risk for all companies. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) — including manufacturers — are especially vulnerable to attacks. Small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) are often seen as an easy entry point — a “soft” target — into larger businesses and government agencies. One of the first steps when prioritizing how to manage your business risk is to gather information about the threat environment. The 20 important (and shocking) cybersecurity statistics listed below focus on what manufacturers need to know about the “what” and “so what” of cybersecurity, so they can start planning their “now what” actions.

With the release of version 1.0 of the CMMC framework, the DoD will being to include these certification requirements in new DoD solicitations, beginning in the fall of 2020.

The inforgraphic below provides a high-level look at what the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) means for DoD contactors. It offers steps contractors can take to prepare for CMMC, important dates and descriptions of practices and processes required to achieve each of the 5 levels of CMMC certification.

This is an original article written by Elliot Forsyth, Vice President of Business Operations at the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (The Center), part of the MEP National Network.

Contributed by our partners at John Wood Community College.

Regional companies will learn practical ways to adapt for the future at the “ABC’s of a Thriving Workforce” conference set for Tuesday, September 24 from 9a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at John Wood Community College’s auditorium in Quincy.

This is an original article written by Michael Allbritton, Cybersecurity Analyst and Trainer with Alpine Security. 

Introduction

Today we all communicate constantly over the internet. Some people say we spend too much time on our mobile devices, and we do not interact enough with the world, and with the people around us. However, that is a discussion for another time. In this blog post we want to discuss how we keep our internet communications secure from eavesdropping.

This is an original article written by Isaac Wright, a Cybersecurity Analyst and Trainer at Alpine Security.

It’s no question that in cybersecurity, defense is the best defense. In the constantly changing threat landscape, the tie often goes to the attacker, and businesses are forced to act like turtles putting up shells of security to ward off threats.  That is not always a bad thing; using a well-constructed defense- in- depth plan can greatly limit the likelihood of a successful attack.  I would like to believe we can get to a 99.99% level of security.  Even if that were true, that extra .01% keeps me up at night. What do we do if the controls fail? How do we respond then? What do we do the other 1% of the time? Once we find out that our emails have been hacked, or our money has been stolen is not the time to ask, “what now?” Even worse, what do you do when you suspect that an insider has embezzled funds and the evidence is located on their computer? Though we invest in and rely on our security controls, it is unfortunately not always enough.  We must have a plan for the .01%.

Cybersecurity continues to be a hot topic for manufacturers – and rightfully so! According to the State of Industrial Cybersecurity 2018 by Kaspersky, “Over three quarters of the companies surveyed state that it is very likely or at least quite likely to become a target of a cybersecurity attack in the operational technology and industrial cybersecurity space. Despite this, only 23% are compliant with minimal mandatory industry or government guidance and regulations around cybersecurity of industrial control systems.”

This is an original article by Kathleen Martin, MEP's IT Security Officer and a Certified Information System Security Professional.

Almost weekly we hear about another company or organization that has fallen victim to a cyber-attack. We know cybercriminals are more persistent and we need to be more diligent about protecting information.

This is an original article by Elliot Forsyth, Vice President of Business Operations at the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, part of the MEP National Network^TM.

Any business owner knows that information is a vital part of running a company. As manufacturing increasingly becomes more digitized, cybersecurity must become a standard component of doing business. If sensitive information—such as employee records, customer transactions or proprietary data—is comprised, it can have a devastating effect.

That’s why more and more manufacturers are taking steps to protect their information via good information security practices.

This is an original article written by Jana White, Cybersecurity Engineer and Trainer with Alpine Security.

What Is a Compliance Audit?