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Even though having comprehensive visibility across complex and connected environments is still a challenge, manufacturers do have greater visibility into their cybersecurity posture than ever before. Security teams can monitor vulnerabilities, track threats, assess control effectiveness and gather large amounts of operational data across connected IT and operational technology( OT) environments. But even where this information is available, it does not necessarily mean organizations understand what a specific cybersecurity risk could mean for production and operations. The big challenge now is about the translation of risk, not visibility. Cyber risk is often communicated using technical measures such as vulnerability counts, severity ratings, patching levels, and compliance scores. These measures are valuable for security teams, but they don’ t always explain which exposures could affect production, how an attack could disrupt a critical process, or where investment would make the greatest difference to the organization’ s overall risk.
This is particularly important for manufacturers because cyber risk rarely stops at the boundaries of the IT environment. Digital transformation is closely connecting production systems, business applications, suppliers, and other parts of the operational environment. As these dependencies increase, a cyber incident affecting one part of the organization can have consequences beyond the original technical problem, disrupting production, delaying deliveries, affecting customer commitments, and creating wider financial and operational impacts.
This means understanding cyber risk in the context of business-critical processes is essential, and not every technical finding should be treated as if it has equivalent risk. For example, a vulnerability with a high severity rating may have limited business impact if it affects an isolated system and effective controls reduce the likelihood of exploitation. On the other
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