GoKawiilTwo disparate industries, manufacturing and healthcare, share several weaknesses that lead to significant security gaps, especially in password hygiene. To address in the short term will require shifting security culture mindsets.
The industries are two of the biggest ransomware targets. Black Kite's "2025 Manufacturing Research Report" found that manufacturing was the No. 1 target for ransomware groups four years in a row.
Both have environments full of legacy technology, can't afford downtime, and yet they use poor password management practices. Experts say plant operators and physicians sharing credentials or using no passwords at all are common risky practices observed across both industries.
In the throes of keeping an assembly line running or administering patient care, strong password hygiene is understandably the last thing on people's minds. Every second counts. But using simple, reused, or comprised passwords makes it easier for attackers to steal credentials, gain access, and cause prolonged disruptions.
Related:Wartime Usage of Compromised IP Cameras Highlight Their Danger
'You're Slowing Me Down'
Hygiene consistency is missing from hospitals, reveals Mick Coady, field CTO of Elisity Cybersecurity and former head of cybersecurity for hospitals. He blames a combination of culture and usability.
Many medical professionals "choose to be willy nilly," he says. "They don't want to make the effort, and there's also a level of pomposity that goes along with who they are," he tells Dark Reading. "Their excuse will be: 'You're slowing me down.' Really, for a six-letter password?"
Physicians should at least be open to chief security officer hygiene recommendations because they are "opening a vector of risks," he urges.
Identity management poses a substantial challenge for manufacturing as well. Operators share tons of IDs to keep production up and running, explains Lisa Caldwell, commercial U.S. manufacturing and automotive industry practice leader at Marsh.
... continue reading