The Hidden Cost of Weak Cyber Security in Process Industries

Deferring cyber investment seems like prudent cost control for process industries. That is until a breach takes your operations offline for weeks, your customers defect to competitors in the wake of a vulnerability, and regulators start asking uncomfortable questions about what you knew and when. This is the real risk of underinvesting in cyber security for process industries.

“Can we really justify the expense?” This is a question that senior leaders too often must consider when it comes to cyber security investments in process industries, whether it is a pulp and paper mill, metals plant or mining operator. The real issue however isn't whether you can afford robust cyber defences it is whether process industries can survive without effective cyber security protecting continuous operations.

Manufacturing and critical infrastructure have overtaken financial services and healthcare as the industries targeted most frequently by threat actors globally. Process industries face a particularly unforgiving threat landscape.

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Unlike discrete manufacturing, these operations run continuously, so a cyber incident can compromise product quality, trigger safety hazards and create cascading failures across entire supply chains. The question is not if an attack will come, but when, and whether the organisation in question will still be standing afterward.

The Real Cost of Vulnerability in Continuous Operations

What happens when a mid-sized paper mill goes offline for a week due to a ransomware attack? Recent ABB research shows that unplanned downtime costs process industries a minimum of $10,000 per hour, with 76 percent of decision-makers estimating an hourly cost of up to $500,000.

The immediate cost in lost production revenue is obvious and painful, but there is also a ripple effect that spreads through the supply chain like wildfire. For organisations without robust cyber security for process industries, a ransomware incident can escalate from an IT problem into a full operational crisis.

Upstream suppliers suddenly have nowhere to send raw materials. Feedstock piles up in yards with no processing capacity. Downstream manufacturers who depend on that mill's output for packaging materials or tissue products scramble for alternatives.

Store shelves start showing gaps. Retail deliveries slow. Prices tick upward. What looked like an isolated incident at “a small paper mill in the middle of the country” now affects customers thousands of miles away.

“Cyber security should be recognised as essential to safeguarding process control systems or safety equipment.”

Process industries sit within complex supply chains where a single compromised link creates pressure on every other participant. If you're a tier-one supplier with major customers watching your every move, a cyber breach can destroy brand equity and trusted relationships you've spent decades building.

The financial calculation shifts dramatically when accounting for these externalities. One hour of downtime might cost X dollars in lost production. But a week-long outage? That calculation must include the cost of emergency raw material disposal, penalty clauses with downstream customers, premium pricing for expedited recovery services, potential litigation from affected supply chain partners, and the near-impossible-to-quantify erosion of customer confidence.

So, what are the outdated misconceptions and perceptions holding back progress? And what is the path forward for process industries today?

Why Cyber Security Is Not an Insurance Policy

Many organisations still treat cyber security as they would any other insurance premium, like a grudging payment made to cover unlikely scenarios. They see a $500,000 security infrastructure investment and think about all the other pressing needs that money could address: equipment upgrades, workforce retention programs, efficiency improvements. This framing is backwards. Cyber security should be recognised as essential to safeguarding process control systems or safety equipment.

The insurance analogy breaks down immediately when you examine recovery realities. Traditional insurance transfers financial risk, whereas cyber security investments prevent the incident entirely. Once a major breach occurs, no insurance payout will compensate for weeks of production losses, permanent customer defections to competitors, or the years-long shadow cast over the organisation's reputation.

Insurance companies now evaluate OT cyber security posture in process industries with extraordinary scrutiny, examining network segmentation, backup protocols, multi-factor authentication on remote access and organisational ownership of cyber risks, precisely because they've seen how devastatingly inadequate defences prove to be in practice.

Moreover, financial decision-makers must consider the true cost-benefit equation. A robust security architecture prevents dozens of potential breaches over its operational lifetime while enabling the safe data connectivity that modern operations increasingly require.

Even more so with many organisations pursuing digital transformation to remain competitive. Rushing toward these “shiny new toys” without first securing foundational systems is like building a skyscraper on sand.

Automation Autonomy and Cyber Risk in Process Industries

Labor shortages, aging workforces and the complexity of modern operations demand greater automation and AI-enabled decision support. However, the same connectivity that enables predictive maintenance, real-time optimisation and autonomous operations also creates potential attack vectors. You can't hand over the keys to autonomous systems without a robust security foundation beneath them.

The convergence of IT and OT expands the potential pathways into previously isolated systems. Without cyber security for process industries embedded from the start, digital transformation initiatives create exposure faster than risk can be mitigated.

Legacy control systems – some designed decades ago when physical isolation provided adequate protection – now require integration with enterprise IT systems to deliver the data insights that autonomous operations demand. Each integration point represents a potential vulnerability.

Black-box systems that once operated in isolation must now be opened, with control surfaces more accessible to legitimate users but also threat actors. The challenge isn't whether to pursue this convergence (competitive pressure makes it inevitable) but whether organisations will secure these integrations properly or treat security as an afterthought to be retrofitted expensively later.

When security architecture is embedded from the start, with proper network segmentation, validated patching protocols, explainable AI frameworks and granular access controls, organisations can pursue digital transformation confidently. When security is bolted on afterward, every new capability requires expensive workarounds, creates operational friction and still leaves gaps that skilled attackers can exploit.

The Human Safety Dimension of OT Cyber Security

Cyber threats in process industries pose more risks than simply data breaches or financial losses, there is a threat to human safety. When an attacker gains access to operational technology controlling high-temperature processes, heavy machinery or chemical systems, the potential for catastrophic incidents becomes very real.

Regulations governing critical infrastructure like oil and gas already mandate stringent cyber controls, precisely because these risks translate directly into potential harm to workers and communities. Not all process industries have yet faced equally rigid regulatory requirements, but this gap is closing.

Organisations waiting for regulators to force their hand will find themselves scrambling to meet standards under time pressure rather than implementing thoughtfully designed defences on their own terms.

Organisations should start to benchmark awareness levels, particularly when it comes to incident reporting protocols, across different employee groups. Today, the most common entry points for breaches remain seemingly innocuous actions: clicking a phishing link, using weak authentication on remote access or improperly handling portable devices like USB drives and maintenance laptops.

While every employee represents a potential vulnerability, they also have the potential to be a critical defence asset. Process industry employees need real-world cyber-drill training, with OT-specific scenarios that reflect their actual work environment as well as the role-specific threats they're likely to encounter. When awareness training feels relevant and personalised, retention and vigilance improve dramatically.

The Rising Cost of Cyber Complacency

Perhaps the most insidious cost of under-investing in cyber security is the complacency that builds when organisations remain unscathed thus far. Many facilities implemented basic controls a decade ago and haven't updated them. This approach leaves cyber security for process industries frozen in time while threats evolve rapidly.

The logic is superficially appealing: “We haven't been attacked yet, so why spend more?” This is equivalent to your smoke detectors not going off in ten years and concluding that you can safely disconnect them.

The threat landscape evolves constantly. Attack techniques that didn't exist five years ago are now commodity tools available to relatively unsophisticated actors. Vulnerabilities discovered in industrial control systems and OT-specific protocols create new attack surfaces. An organisation's static defences from 2015 will be ill-equipped to face 2025 threats.

Responsibility falls ambiguously between IT departments focused on enterprise systems and operations teams managing production equipment. Without dedicated roles, nobody has the mandate or authority to drive consistent improvements. This diffusion of accountability means security concerns compete poorly for attention and resources against more immediate operational pressures.

A Practical Path Forward for Cyber Security in Process Industries

The economic pressures facing process industries are real. Steel mills face challenging markets. Paper production confronts secular headwinds. Mining operations manage volatile commodity prices. In this environment, every capital investment will continue to face intense scrutiny.

But framing cyber security as discretionary spending rather than foundational infrastructure represents a category error with potentially fatal consequences. Cyber security for process industries underpins operational resilience safety and supply chain trust. The “trim the fat” instinct that might reasonably target certain overhead costs becomes dangerous when applied to defences protecting continuous operations, worker safety and supply chain integrity.

Organisations waiting for perfect economic conditions to invest in security are making the same mistake as those who defer maintenance of critical equipment until breakdown forces emergency repairs. The question isn't whether cyber threats will materialise but whether you'll address known vulnerabilities proactively or reactively, and reactive always costs more.

The most successful approach starts with honest assessment. What assets do you actually have? What's their current security posture? Which systems are truly critical to operations? Where do gaps exist between your risk exposure and your defensive capabilities? These questions can't be answered without visibility, which requires investment in the monitoring and assessment tools.

From there, a risk-based approach allows prioritisation. Not every system requires state-of-the-art defences simultaneously. But every organisation needs clarity about which systems are end-of-life (where compensatory monitoring provides the best available protection), which can be secured through network segmentation and updated protocols, and which new implementations should be designed with security embedded from the start rather than retrofitted later.

Next year, process industries face a choice: pay now or pay far more later down the line while explaining to boards, customers, regulators and affected workers why known risks weren't addressed when action was still affordable and effective.

The organisations that invest proactively will be the ones positioned to pursue digital transformation with confidence, protect their workforce and supply chain relationships, and build the operational resilience that increasingly helps companies stand out as market leaders.

FAQs

What is cyber security for process industries?

Cyber security for process industries focuses on protecting operational technology continuous production systems and worker safety from cyber threats.

Why are process industries more vulnerable to cyber attacks?

Continuous operations IT OT convergence and legacy control systems increase exposure and magnify the impact of cyber incidents.

Is cyber security just an insurance issue?

No cyber security prevents incidents entirely whereas insurance only mitigates financial losses after damage has occurred.

How does cyber security impact worker safety?

Compromised operational technology can trigger unsafe conditions equipment damage and hazardous incidents.

When should organisations invest in cyber security?

Before incidents occur proactive investment is significantly less costly than reactive recovery after a breach.