September 11, 2025 Avoiding Insider Threats in Manufacturing

Exploring the stakes behind insider threats and how to cut down on operational risk.

by Orion Czarnecki

When manufacturers consider the key threats they face, the discussion often centers on ransomware gangs or state-sponsored hackers targeting legacy systems. Yet some of the most serious risks originate inside the organization’s own four walls.

The good news is that you can build stronger insider-threat programs anchored in recognized frameworks, practical safeguards, and a culture of transparency.

Why Frameworks Matter

For manufacturers — especially those in critical‑infrastructure sectors — the stakes are high. A single insider incident can trigger operational downtime, financial losses, intellectual‑property (IP) theft, safety issues, and regulatory or legal exposure.

Insider threats typically fall into three categories:

• Malicious insiders who deliberately cause harm (e.g., stealing designs for a competitor, sabotaging production systems or equipment, or manipulating invoicing/payroll/procurement systems to defraud the company).
• Negligent insiders who bypass controls (e.g., reusing weak passwords; using unauthorized USB drives, personal devices, or shadow‑IT cloud services; or sending confidential manufacturing information to third parties without authorization).
• Accidental insiders who cause harm by mistake (e.g., misdirecting a confidential file, losing a device with sensitive data, falling for phishing or social‑engineering, or misconfiguring ICS/SCADA systems and disrupting production).

Understanding these categories is important because each requires a distinct response. In mature programs, equal attention goes to pathways — identity and access, portable media, remote/vendor access, data egress, and change control — because that’s where prevention is engineered.

Cybersecurity frameworks provide a reliable starting point for building or maturing your program. One that is particularly relevant in manufacturing is the Insider Risk Mitigation Program Evaluation (IRMPE). Developed with support from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI), IRMPE offers a structured way to assess the maturity of your insider‑risk program and pinpoint operational gaps.

With manufacturing being a top infrastructure priority for CISA and an area covered by the EU’s NIS2 Directive, aligning with recognized frameworks helps ensure your controls withstand scrutiny from regulators, insurers, and customers – even when compliance is not mandatory.

Key Tactics to Reduce Insider Risk

Frameworks like IRMPE help you assess gaps. The next step is to apply practical controls to reduce the likelihood and impact of insider incidents. Start with these five tactics:

1) Lock Down Identity and Access Controls

Most insider incidents involve compromised or overly broad access. Enforce least privilege and segregation of duties, require multi-factor authentication, and regularly review access to remove unused rights and deactivate stale accounts. In converged IT/OT environments, segment networks and tightly manage access to PLCs, HMIs, historians, and engineering workstations. Where feasible, use named accounts, just‑in‑time (JIT) elevation for privileged tasks, and recorded vendor sessions through bastions. Monitor for anomalous behavior (e.g., unusual file access, privilege escalation, or data egress).

2) Deliver Insider‑Threat–Focused Security Awareness

General security training isn’t enough. Add specialized Insider Threat modules that:

• Explain insider indicators and block common paths (USB, personal devices, unsanctioned cloud tools).
• Teach employees how to identify social-engineering and recruitment attempts targeting insiders.
• Clarify acceptable use and reporting obligations and match them to shop‑floor realities.
• Use short monthly refreshers and role‑based content for engineers, operators, and back‑office staff. Make policies easy to find and understand.

3) Increased Personnel Control

Managers and leaders at every level should actively know and support their teams while watching for early risk indicators — without stigmatizing anyone.

Practical steps include:

• Establishing behavioral baselines and spotting deviations tied to job duties (e.g., unusual after‑hours access or interest in unrelated CAD files).
• Addressing personal stressors that may correlate with risk through HR and employee‑assistance programs, in line with privacy and labor laws.
• Applying dual control, mandatory vacations/rotation of duties where appropriate, and enhanced oversight for highly sensitive roles.

When done well, personnel control is a low-cost, high-impact preventive measure that reduces the surface area for insider threats.

4) Design, Practice, and Test

Run cross‑functional tabletop exercises (HR, Legal, Security, IT/OT, Operations, and executives) that explicitly include insider‑threat scenarios. Examples: A maintenance engineer modifies PLC logic, a clerk exfiltrates CAD/BOM files, and a supervisor manipulates procurement or payroll. Use these exercises to clarify roles, expose gaps, validate monitoring and escalation paths, and refine communications.

5) Engagement, Transparency, and Policy Alignment

The strongest programs make employees partners in defense. Encourage “see something, say something” reporting, host informal Q&A sessions, and demonstrate a fair and consistent handling of reports. Align policies and make them accessible so employees know exactly how to report concerns and what happens next. Involve HR, Legal, and Operations stakeholders early to ensure buy‑in and a clear communication plan.

How High Are the Stakes?

Failing to address insider threats can lead to direct financial loss, reputational damage, legal liability, and data exposure. Insurers may deny claims if weak controls contributed to the incident. Just as critical is trust. Customers, suppliers, and partners expect their goods, services, data, and IP to be protected. High-value products and components — especially those that embody proprietary designs or trade secrets — are prime targets for insiders. One breach can undo years of relationship‑building.

Operationally, insider incidents can halt production, degrade product quality or data integrity, delay shipments, and ripple across the supply chain, triggering contractual penalties, regulatory action, and other consequences.

Where To Start

Today’s manufacturing environments are more interconnected than ever, with the convergence of IT and OT increasing the potential impact. Adversaries are becoming increasingly targeted in their approaches and are utilizing AI to craft convincing lures and exploit known insider vulnerabilities. People will always be a significant variable in security outcomes.

For these reasons, manufacturers cannot afford to postpone implementing a reliable Insider-Threat Program (if one doesn’t already exist) or strengthening the program they currently have.

A few practical steps to take to begin this process include:

1. Benchmark against IRMPE (or a similar framework) to identify maturity gaps.
2. Audit identity and access controls for least privilege, privilege‑use monitoring, and network segmentation across IT/OT.
3. Engage stakeholders (HR, Legal, Operations, Engineering, Security) to build buy‑in and ensure the program is durable and fair.

The Bottom Line

Insider threats pose significant risks across every part of a manufacturing operation. It’s not too late to implement safeguards that reduce those risks and protect operations from the inside out — recognizing that a malicious actor on the inside can think much like one on the outside. With the proper framework, controls, training, and culture, manufacturers can significantly reduce insider risk while fostering a safe and productive workplace.

Adopt this single design constraint and measure progress against it: No single identity — employee, contractor, or vendor — can, acting alone and unobserved, modify production logic or remove crown‑jewel data.

Make this your standard. Engineer toward it with least privilege, segregation of duties, network segmentation, JIT privileged access, recorded vendor sessions, and egress guardrails. With that north star, insider events become manageable interruptions, not crises that halt operations.

About the Author:
Orion Czarnecki, head of cybersecurity at Stefanini Group, is a forward-thinking strategist dedicated to crafting digital solutions that foster business agility and modernization. He brings over a decade of experience in data analytics, cloud computing, and AI-driven strategies, consistently aligning technology initiatives with client objectives. Known for his analytical approach to problem-solving, Orion plays a key role at Stefanini by guiding teams toward impactful digital transformations, ensuring clients remain competitive and innovative within their industries.

Read more from the author:

How AI is Transforming Cybersecurity for Manufacturers | November 2024

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