IT Services for the Manufacturing Sector

A Zero Trust security model is critical for modern manufacturing environments. Rather than assuming internal systems and connected devices are safe, Zero Trust continuously verifies every user, device, and connection to ensure users and devices remain secure.

For manufacturing businesses, this means limiting the access that machinery systems have to only their essential network operations, enforcing strong authentication, segmenting networks, and monitoring activity in real time. If an endpoint is compromised, Zero Trust limits the attacker's ability to move through the environment or access critical systems that could impact wider operations.

Where systems can be updated, structured patch management reduces exposure to known vulnerabilities. For legacy machinery that cannot be patched, TwentyFour implements compensating security controls across the network to minimise risk and keep data access to the absolute minimum required for the machine, often meaning implementing read-only controls for only the specific data needed for the machine.

Separating production networks from core business systems often reduces the impact of incidents and protects critical operations by limiting an attacker's ability to move across your wider business infrastructure.

Manufacturing-specific tools for endpoint security provide threat detection, response, and isolation capabilities across mixed environments, including older operating systems, and monitor network traffic between these devices and your wider infrastructure to detect and prevent unusual, suspicious, or malicious activity.

Unfortunately, your employees are the most vulnerable part of your cyber defences. Training staff to recognise phishing, suspicious activity, known threat vectors, and unsafe behaviours, and to practice strong cybersecurity (such as strong passwords and multi-factor authentication) in the business and online, strengthens the human layer of protection across manufacturing operations.

Regular security assessments help manufacturers identify vulnerabilities, validate controls, and improve resilience over time. 

The past decade has seen a significant increase in digital transformation in manufacturing, and this is only set to continue over the next decade, increasingly driven by the vast amounts of data businesses can generate across their manufacturing ecosystems, which can then be used for automation and AI-enabled insights and actions. Successful transformation requires secure data foundations, resilient infrastructure, and strong identity and access controls to ensure this data can be accessed and used responsibly.

At TwentyFour IT Services, we have been supporting manufacturing businesses with strategic planning and the delivery of digital transformation initiatives, including cloud adoption, data modernisation, secure system integration, and AI & automation projects such as stock management and predictive forecasting solutions, as well as maintenance, reporting, and operational decision-making.

By embedding cybersecurity and IT governance into every transformation project, we ensure innovation does not introduce unnecessary risk and enables business growth.