Until recently, cybersecurity was often framed as an “IT issue,” with the expectation that tech specialists would oversee its operations. But, there’s a growing awareness that that view is outdated – and dangerously so. The scope of cybersecurity has evolved beyond firewalls and antivirus software. It’s become a business-critical priority, just as integral to your company as supply chains, quality control, or production uptime.
As the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) points out, “Cybersecurity is a continuous process. Because your business, technologies, regulations/laws, and cybersecurity threats continue to change, your goal should be to always strive for continuous improvement in your cybersecurity risk management.”
Within the past few years, there have been significant changes in how technology is used in the workplace. With an increasing reliance on cloud services, IoT devices, connected machinery, AI models, remote access points, and integrated automation systems comes an increasing vulnerability to cybersecurity threats.
Technological change moves swiftly. If your cybersecurity strategy hasn’t evolved in the last 18-24 months, your organization may be at significant risk. An external cybersecurity audit – especially one aligned with rigorous frameworks like CMMC 2.0 – may be one of the best investments you can make right now.
The Soaring Cost Of Cybersecurity Threats
Regardless of the sector they occur in, cybersecurity breaches are expensive. But for manufacturing and industrial firms, the impact can be considerable. The costs can extend far past simply containing the breach.
Unfortunately, there are many real-world examples that spotlight the exorbitant cost of a cybersecurity breach. Whether it’s a ransomware attack, phishing breach, supply chain attack, or another type of cyber intrusion, recent news stories carry important lessons about cybersecurity.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts or otherwise blocks access to a company’s data. Typically, the attackers demand a ransom in exchange for removing the block. If the ransom isn’t paid, the attackers release the company’s sensitive data. Ransomware attacks have taken place across all sectors, including medical, education, legal, insurance, technology, and manufacturing.
In January 2025, the Medusa ransomware group targeted SimonMed Imaging, an outpatient medical imaging and radiology services provider. Reports state that the data breach affected 1.27 million patients. The group demanded one million dollars in ransom in exchange for deleting the data it had harvested. It’s unknown whether the company paid the ransom.
Phishing
In phishing scams, attackers use various messaging platforms to try to trick victims into revealing sensitive information or providing money. Phishing is the most common type of cybercrime and it is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
In 2025, hackers belonging to the group “Shiny Hunters” carried out a surprisingly unsophisticated phishing scam that resulted in significant data breaches at several multinational companies. Posing as IT support staff, the hackers made phone calls to companies including Adias, Qantas, and even Google. As reported by David Ruiz,
… the threat actors impersonated IT support staff in phone calls to targeted employees, attempting to persuade them into visiting Salesforce’s connected app setup page. On this page, they were told to enter a “connection code”, which linked a malicious version of Salesforce’s Data Loader OAuth app to the target’s Salesforce environment.
Phishing scams are astonishingly prevalent. Statistics show that 57% of organizations encounter phishing scams daily or weekly. Approximately 1.2% of all sent emails are malicious – and that small percentage translates to 3.4 billion phishing emails every single day.
Supply Chain Attacks
In supply chain attacks, cybercriminals attempt to disrupt or damage an organization by infiltrating less secure components of the organization’s supply chain. As explained in Wikipedia, “Hackers don’t usually directly target a larger entity, such as the United States Government, but instead target the entity’s software. The third-party software is often less protected, leading to an easier target.”
One infamous supply chain attack was the MOVEit breach in 2023. Threat actors exploited a flaw in MOVEit, a file transfer software. Those actions resulted in attacks that impacted several key vendors on the digital supply chain. Over 2,700 organizations were affected, and the data of over 93 million people was exposed.
Overall, IBM reports that the financial costs related to cybersecurity threats have dropped slightly in 2025, compared to 2024. The average global cost of a data breach is now $4.44 million. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that cyberattacks are decreasing in number. Instead, the costs are likely dropping due to faster AI-powered defenses.
It’s important to remember that the cost of a data breach can’t be measured in financial terms only. There are also indirect costs such as lost consumer trust, damaged reputation, and legal risks. One data breach can have a significant and long-term impact on a company.
Despite Budget Cuts, Cybersecurity Remains A Top Priority
It might be tempting to reduce spending on cybersecurity in uncertain economic times. But in today’s world, cybersecurity must remain a priority. Business leaders understand that a single breach can be catastrophic, decimating many years of investment in growth or operations.
In fact, cybersecurity has become such an integral part of business strategy that its operations are no longer relegated solely to the IT team. Instead, C-Suite executives are getting increasingly involved, demanding transparency on cyber risk, incident response readiness, and alignment between cybersecurity strategy and overall business objectives.
Prioritizing cybersecurity makes good business sense. Investing in cyber safety yields a positive ROI, including:
- Reduced probability of attacks and their magnitude;
- Shortened response times and quicker containment;
- Strengthened trust with stakeholders, including customers, clients, vendors, regulators, and other partners; and,
- Better protection for intellectual property, operations, company culture, and reputation.
Cybersecurity should never be considered discretionary. It’s a critical cornerstone of today’s business policy.
Why Your Current Cybersecurity Coverage May Be Falling Short
The momentum of technological advancements is truly astonishing. And it’s moving so quickly that it’s outpacing legacy cybersecurity policies.
AI, IoT, And The Smart Ecosystem
While AI has tremendous potential for organizations, it also has several drawbacks. As companies embed AI in decision-making, add autonomous controls, and push edge computing more deeply into manufacturing systems, they also open up new vulnerabilities and potential for cyber attacks.
The Industrial 4.0 and Manufacturing 4.0 Context
Industry and manufacturing are increasingly using connected machinery, predictive maintenance tools, and digital twins. These systems are boon for the sector but the increased reliance on digital tools doesn’t come without potential problems. The creation of a bridge between operational technology (OT) and IT can create new attack vectors that traditional IT teams are not prepared for.
Lack Of Preparedness Within Internal Teams And MSPs
Whether you employ internal IT professionals or outsourced MSPs, your technological tools may be vulnerable due to outdated network security processes. These teams might not have deep exposure to threat modelling, adversarial risk, or domain-specific vulnerabilities in manufacturing or AI systems.
The Case For An External Cybersecurity Audit
An external cybersecurity audit may seem like an unnecessary expense, especially if you have an established and reliable in-house IT team or MSP. However, independent assessments are more objective, often challenging assumptions, testing edge cases, and uncovering gaps. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know.
Further, an external audit goes beyond networks and software. A thorough audit will assess physical endpoints, IoT sensors, supply chain interfaces, AI models and access frameworks, and governance constructs.
Introducing CMMC 2.0 As A Baseline
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 assessment framework and assessor certification program is based on NIST standards. It was developed specifically for contractors working with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to outline specific cybersecurity standards and protect sensitive information. CMMC 2.0 replaces the older five-level system with three maturity levels more closely aligned with existing NIST standards.
The reduced number of compliance levels in the updated framework makes it easier for companies to decide which compliance path to follow. Under CMMC 2.0:
- Level 1 (Foundational) covers foundational cybersecurity requirements;
- Level 2 (Advanced) includes 110 security controls and adds some additional requirements depending on risks; and,
- Level 3 (Expert) adds enhanced controls, auditaiblity, and threat reporting for those environments that have the highest risks.
It may seem unnecessary for organizations that are not DoD contractors to implement the CMMC 2.0 framework. However, as Yogev Kimor points out, “Meeting the new CMMC compliance mandates is a great way to make your business more secure and agile.”
Audit As A Risk-Mapping Exercise
An external cybersecurity audit does more than flag vulnerabilities; it’s a mapping exercise. It traces the full landscape of your organization’s physical and digital environment, including your factory floor equipment, IoT devices, cloud apps, and third-party vendor connections.
By working through this mapping exercise, auditors can see how your systems interact, where sensitive data flows, and where security controls may be missing or misaligned. A completed map will provide a more thorough remediation and risk assessment. An expert mapping process will help you understand:
- Likelihood and impact, identifying which gaps are high-risk and which are manageable;
- A remediation roadmap that outlines prioritized steps to plug holes; and,
- Governance and sustainability, to ensure that your controls remain active and effective as your organization, technology, and cybersecurity evolve.
In addition to addressing cybersecurity risks, audits provide insight into how to strategically allocate capital over time instead of throwing money at retroactive patches.
Conclusion: Your Cybersecurity Strategy Deserves A Second Look
As technology evolves, so too do the vulnerabilities – and the cybersecurity systems that address those vulnerabilities. Your digital defence policies and procedures must adapt as your organization adds new devices, integrates AI, and expands remote connectivity and cloud computing.
An external cybersecurity audit is the best way to get a quick, clear, and unbiased assessment of potential vulnerabilities. Especially for tech-based, manufacturing, and industrial organizations, an audit should be considered a strategic necessity and not a discretionary expenditure.
If your organization hasn’t yet pursued an external cybersecurity audit, we would be happy to provide a free initial consultation with one of our cybersecurity experts. More information about this service is available at this URL: https://180engineering.com/cybersecurity-cmmc-2-0-level-1-audit/
