Securing Remote Access in Manufacturing: OEM Support, Engineers and Remote Workers
Manufacturing organisations provide remote access to their production systems for multiple purposes: OEM machinery suppliers need remote access for maintenance and diagnostics; engineering staff work from home or access systems across multiple sites; IT teams administer servers and network infrastructure remotely; and integration partners require API or system access for production planning data exchange. Each remote access connection is a potential attack vector — and manufacturing remote access environments are typically among the least secure in any sector.
71% of manufacturing ransomware attacks in 2023 originated through remote access vulnerabilities — making secure remote access the single highest-priority manufacturing security control.
Securing OEM Remote Maintenance Access
OEM remote access is the highest-risk category in manufacturing remote access: OEM technicians access production systems (PLCs, SCADA, HMIs) with elevated privileges; their access is typically ad-hoc rather than continuous; and manufacturers have limited visibility of what OEM technicians do during remote sessions. Securing OEM access requires: a vendor access portal that provides a single, hardened gateway for all OEM connections (replacing direct VPN or modem connections); MFA for all OEM authentication; session recording that logs all commands and actions during OEM sessions; time-limited access grants that expire after the maintenance window; and explicit network access controls that limit OEM access to only the specific systems they need to maintain. Never allow OEM access through the same VPN used by corporate users.
Securing Engineering and IT Remote Access
Engineering and IT remote access to manufacturing systems should be provided through a hardened jump server or privileged access workstation (PAW) that: requires MFA for all access; logs all sessions with command-level detail; provides access only to explicitly authorised systems (not broad network access via corporate VPN); integrates with Privileged Access Management (PAM) for credential vaulting and session management; and generates alerts for unusual access patterns (off-hours access, access from unexpected locations, access to systems outside normal operational scope). All remote access systems should be included in the external attack surface monitoring programme to ensure they are not internet-exposed without authorisation.
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