Insider Threats: When Employees Become a Risk in Manufacturing

By Sanjay Seth

Sanjay Seth here (yes, the guy who still gets a little too excited about firewalls and can name every router I’ve ever configured). Let’s have a chat over my third cup of coffee today, my post-DefCon vibes still mildly activated — about something that’s been stalking manufacturing like a son of Cujo: insider threats.

Insider threats are not a new conversation—had to deal with them since I first crimped an Ethernet cable in the 1990s. But something is feeling different these days. The mirror of manufacturing is more connected than ever. Smart machines, IoT sensors, remote access for diagnosing problems miles (or continents) away — all great until someone on the other side of your keyboard (criminally or by accident) compromises those strengths into weaknesses.

Here’s the thing: Most businesses are so busy locking out outside hackers — those mythical hoodie-wearing keyboard warriors — that they ignore threats from within. And yes, I’m yelling this from my desk because I’ve seen what happens when that lack of vigilance boomerangs on a company. Especially in manufacturing.

Let’s unpack this, one caffeine-inspired thought at a time.

Types of Insider Threats

To combat insider threats, one size does not fit all. In general, you’re facing two categories:

1. Malicious Insiders

These are the people who really know what they’re doing.

• Saboteurs: Could be disgruntled, could be bored, could be being paid by some shadowy competitor. In either scenario, they are intentionally sabotaging your processes. Imagine a worker going rogue and rerouting production schedules or overriding inventory data just for the fun (or revenge) of it. I’ve seen it happen.
• Spies: Corporate espionage may still sound like something out of a bad action film, but I promise you it’s real. Employees walking out the door with sensitive blueprints, production methodologies or vendor pricing data. Sometimes it’s USB sticks that look like they just came out of the early 2000s — a technology I both miss and despise equally — or just an email to themselves.

2. Negligent Employees

Here’s the zesty part — it’s most often not malice that breaks your cybersecurity. It’s carelessness.

• Victims of Phishing: One mistake. That’s all it takes. Opening a link that appears innocuous but activates malware. In manufacturing, this could extend to operational technology (OT) — the systems that power your assembly line.
• Weak Passwords: Sorry to keep badgering people about passwords (I’ve gone on a rant or twelve about this), but come on — if your employees are still using “123456” or “Spring2023!” for their login credentials, you have a problem. These are great for guessing because, quite frankly, they work.

Real-World Incidents

Okay, so let’s cut to the chase — real-life events. Because theory is fine, but real-world examples are the ones that leave a mark.

1. The Rogue Engineer

Not my client but heard this over lunch from a contact in the industry. An engineer (a longstanding employee) felt undervalued and overlooked for promotions. Their revenge? Deploying a strain of custom malware that fed production schedules on pivotal CNC machines. By the time it detected the breach, the company was in the hole six figures for downtime.

2. Accidental Lapses

This one’s closer to home. Around five years ago, a mid-sized manufacturer I was consulting for had an accounts manager (let’s say Priya). Priya opened a phishing email—one of those generic fake invoices. That single click didn’t merely infect her computer; it wormed its way through the network and shredded their production-planning software. They were out of operation for three days.

That’s the nature of insider threats. They don’t always have spy-vs-spy glamour. But they’re just as devastating — sometimes more so.

Quick Take

No time to read this whole blog? Thanks for reading! (I understand, manufacturing timelines wait for no one.) Here’s the gist:

1. Insider threats are real, understated and dangerous — at times more so than external hackers.
2. Your cybersecurity can be threatened by both malicious and negligent employees.
3. The optimal protection combines tech, trust and training.

Prevention Tactics: Defensive Measures You Can Take Immediately

Here is where I get pragmatic because let’s face it — awareness means squat without action.

1. Zero-Trust Architecture

The philosophy? Trust no one, verify everything – including the question itself.

• Strict access controls.
• Multi-factor Authentication (MFA).
• Establish role-based access. Financial records don’t need to be accessed by your machine operator.

2. Behavioral Analytics

This is where tech earns its spurs. Use tools that monitor employees’ behavior — but not, of course, to the point of creepy Big Brother.

• Unusual access to files after business hours.
• Bulk downloads.
• Many failed logins (brute force or just forgetting your password).

3. Training, Training, Training

I can’t stress this enough. Human error is still the greatest weak link in cybersecurity. You can spend millions of dollars on firewalls but all it takes is one employee clicking on a bad link.

4. Classifying Data & Encryption

Sensitize your data by labeling them accordingly. Engineering blueprints? High priority. Resetting cafeteria timers? Probably less critical.

Encrypt anything sensitive. Those little portable USB sticks people haul around? Put them behind a password wall, and encrypt them.

5. Regular Audits

Cyber vulnerabilities don’t wear neon signs. Frequent audits, both at the network and the policy level, can prevent you from entering into a world of pain.

Building Trust and Awareness

One thing I have grappled with over the years is striking a balance between being draconian with cybersecurity and keeping workers happy. Nobody wants to feel like their boss would suspect them of being a hacker.

But here’s the brutal reality: insider threats are as much about trust as they are about technology.

• Educate on Data Protection: Informing employees is a way of incorporating data protection into their daily lives—not by fearmongering, but by example.
• Reward Good Practices: Did someone report a phishing email instead of clicking? Reward them. Publicly.
• Exit Interviews: Each disgruntled employee who leaves your organization poses a security risk. Discerning grievances before they become malicious schemes will save you in the long run.

Wrapping Up

It can be tempting, when thinking about manufacturing cybersecurity, to view hackers as the villains in your story. But every now and again, insiders — whether intentionally or not — take it over.

Your tightest defenses often begin from within. Consider your workforce to be your strongest asset and your most dangerous liability. Next, design systems that accommodate for both.

Alright, enough ranting. Time for coffee number four.