SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCÍA, NL.- Mexico ranked as the sixth country with the highest year-on-year increase in weekly cyberattacks in manufacturing, with an 80% increase between 2024 and 2025, according to the Manufacturing Threat Landscape 2025 report by Check Point Software Technologies.

This shows that cybersecurity has ceased to be an exclusive matter for information technology (IT) departments and has become a factor in operational continuity for the manufacturing industry, where an interruption of digital systems can affect everything from production lines to the fulfillment of deliveries .

In the panel “Beyond Cybersecurity: Resilience for the New Technological Era” , held within the framework of the 51st National Index Convention, of the National Council of the Maquiladora and Export Manufacturing Industry (Index Nacional) , representatives of the industry and the public sector agreed that manufacturing companies must strengthen their protection systems, but also develop capabilities to recover their operations in the event of an attack , without compromising production or the security of their facilities.

In her presentation, Rita Ivette Rentería, Global Director of IT & OT Audit at Grupo Bimbo , explained that not all plants can receive the same security controls, particularly when some facilities operate with systems that were designed decades ago and whose modification could halt production.

Before implementing security measures, it is necessary to identify which equipment needs connectivity, what it is used for, and what the consequences would be if it stopped working or was compromised by a cyberattack.

The executive stressed that these decisions are not solely the responsibility of the technology department, but must involve engineering, auditing, cybersecurity, and senior management, so that the business understands the risks it faces and determines how to address them.

For Diego Flores, head of the Electronic and Digital Industry Sector of the Ministry of Economy , it is important that the industry begins to observe that cybersecurity has an effect that materializes when there is an operational direction, that disruption in the supply chains that is so important in the process of integration with the United States.

Manufacturing, among the main objectives

One of the panel’s central points was that protecting industrial facilities requires a differentiated strategy. Network segmentation makes it possible to prevent an incident originating in administrative systems from spreading to the equipment that controls production.

Heidy Rocha, Director General of Cybersecurity at the Agency for Digital Transformation and Telecommunications , explained that corporate and industrial networks have different priorities. While a temporary interruption of an administrative service might be tolerable, a similar decision in a factory could halt a production line or compromise physical security .

Therefore, he recommended getting to know the equipment and its connections, limiting communications between systems to what is strictly necessary, and making security changes gradually, with testing and coordination between the operations, engineering, and cybersecurity areas.

The scale of the problem also affects production continuity. A Minsait study on cybersecurity in OT (Operational Technology) environments indicated that nearly 25% of the country’s industrial organizations suffered attacks that caused a disruption to production and operations during 2024.

Another point addressed was the need to raise cybersecurity requirements for suppliers involved in supply chains.

In the case of Grupo Bimbo, Rita Rentería explained that the evaluation depends on the type of service offered by each provider.

He believed that companies should review the compliance of their business partners and, when they do not meet the established requirements, request that they correct their gaps or seek alternatives that offer adequate security conditions.

This is particularly relevant given Mexico’s trade integration with the United States and the ongoing relocation of production chains. Cybersecurity becomes a key element in building trust among manufacturers, customers, and suppliers, as well as facilitating participation in increasingly demanding markets.

Resilience, beyond avoiding an attack

According to the panelists, preventing an intrusion is not enough. Organizations must also demonstrate their ability to recover when an incident affects their systems.

Resilience begins with understanding a company’s critical processes , how long they can remain down, and what resources are needed to restore them. This involves having backups, establishing recovery times, and conducting regular tests to ensure procedures are working.

In an industrial plant, they warned, it is not enough to recover files or servers: it is also necessary to verify that the machinery and production processes operate correctly before resuming activities .

Artificial intelligence (AI) was also part of the discussion. Panelists noted that this technology can accelerate and refine attacks, with unpatched vulnerabilities, outdated systems, and unauthorized access remaining some of the main entry points.

At the same time, they acknowledged its usefulness in analyzing large volumes of information and strengthening defense capabilities, provided there is human oversight and a clear strategy for its use.

Regarding the National Cybersecurity Plan, the importance of establishing maturity assessments was highlighted, enabling organizations to identify their current conditions and build a roadmap for improvement.

“In the National Cybersecurity Plan, what we really want is to collaborate very closely with the entire industry, both manufacturing and other types, and that is what a national strategy on the matter is deployed from there,” Rocha said.

The message for industry is that cybersecurity must be integrated into business decisions, from plant operations to supplier selection. In an increasingly interconnected supply chain environment, protecting production and ensuring its recovery are also key to Mexico’s competitiveness.

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