Nonprofit Blog

Today’s businesses operate in an era of hyper-connectedness and, unfortunately, a burgeoning global cybercrime industry. You can’t afford to hope you’ll luck out and avoid a cyberattack. It’s essential to establish policies and procedures to minimize risk. One specific area on which to focus is your employees.

As manufacturers continue to explore new avenues for growth with emerging technologies, it is important to analyze risk and security. The manufacturing industry has experienced a 44% increase in cyber risks since 2013. This year, 92% of manufacturers listed cybersecurity concerns in their SEC disclosures. It is also the first time that BDO USA, LLP ranked cyber risk among manufacturers’ top 10 risk factors.

In recent months, the Department of Labor (DOL) has raised concerns about cybersecurity and employee benefit plans. Employee benefit plans may be vulnerable to cyber-attacks and thus exposed to risks relating to privacy, security, and fraud. Plan administrators, or those charged with governance, have an ERISA fiduciary duty with respect to the management of the plan, which encompasses the duty to care for personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI).

The MPI Internet of Things Study evaluated the readiness of U.S. manufacturers to incorporate smart devices and embedded intelligence within their plants and into their companies’ products. The study was conducted by The MPI Group and sponsored by BDO. In August and September 2015, 350 manufacturers participated in the study. For additional study findings and information on the respondents, view the executive summary.