BY COLIN ELLINGSON, FULTON MAY SOLUTIONS
As someone who has spent over two decades in network infrastructure and storage, I view cybersecurity through the lens of “worst-case scenario” planning. I don’t just look at how systems run; I look at how they fail. In the manufacturing sector, the worst-case scenario has a name: Ransomware.
In 2024, manufacturing wasn’t just a target; it was the most affected industry, suffering 660 publicly reported ransomware attacks. Attackers have zeroed in on manufacturers for a simple, brutal reason: they know you cannot afford downtime. They know that halted production lines, compromised just-in-time logistics, and missed shipping deadlines create immense financial pressure to pay quickly.
The High Cost of Silence
The financial devastation of these attacks is staggering. The average cost of a ransomware breach in 2024 was $5.08 million.
But the cost isn’t just the ransom check you write to a criminal; it is the operational paralysis.
- Operational Downtime: When files are encrypted, production stops. The financial impact is immediate and often catastrophic.
- The Cycle of Recurring Attacks: Perhaps the most disturbing statistic is that 80% of organizations that paid a ransom were targeted by another attack. Paying isn’t a strategy; it’s a gamble.
Speed is the Enemy: The 48-Minute Window
What keeps me up at night regarding our clients’ infrastructure isn’t just the sophistication of the malware, but the speed of the deployment.
Modern attackers can move from an initial breach to widespread network access in as little as 48 minutes. In less than an hour, an attacker can escalate privileges, move laterally, and deploy encryption protocols across your environment.
If your defense strategy relies on manual intervention—waiting for an IT manager to notice a weird alert and log in—you are already too late.
The “Air-Gap” Necessity: Building the Bunker
Your ability to recover without paying a ransom depends entirely on one thing: the integrity of your backups. However, modern ransomware is designed to hunt down and encrypt your backups first to force your hand.
This is why we are pushing hard for “Air-Gapped” backups in Q1 2026.
- What is it? An air-gapped backup is isolated from the main network. It is physically or logically separated so that an attacker cannot touch it—even if they have full administrative control of your main network.
- Why do you need it? If your backups are connected to the network, they are liable to be infected during an attack. Isolation ensures you have a clean slate to rebuild from.
- Test to Trust: It is not enough to simply have the backup; you must verify it works. Regular testing is crucial to ensure data can be restored successfully when the clock is ticking.
The Lock on the Front Door: MFA
While backups save you after the fire starts, we must also focus on preventing the spark.
A recent report from Hudson Rock detailed how a single attacker compromised approximately 50 global enterprises simply because they failed to enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). MFA is the simple verification step—like a code sent to a phone—that prevents attackers from walking in with stolen credentials.
Takeaway
If you rely on digital designs, Bills of Materials (BOM), or proprietary process data, you are a target. In 2026, resilience isn’t about hoping you don’t get hit; it’s about knowing you can survive the hit. Build the bunker before the bomb drops.
Contact Fulton May Solutions for a cybersecurity health check and download our Manufacturing State of Cybersecurity report.
