The Dutch manufacturing industry is becoming increasingly vulnerable to serious cyber attacks. This is according to new research among 245 Dutch companies in the sector, conducted by IT company Cegeka between July 2025 and September 2025. "Companies in the manufacturing industry rely heavily on the supply chain. This makes the sector an attractive target for cybercriminals. The direct financial damage is high, but the indirect financial damage in the chain can amount to millions," said Remco Geerts, cybersecurity expert at Cegeka.
The manufacturing industry is crucial to the Dutch economy; 1 in 9 Dutch people work in the sector. In addition, the manufacturing industry is responsible for around 60% of all innovations in the Netherlands.
Score
The survey shows that the sector scores an average of 7.6 on digital resilience. Geerts: "This figure is not immediately alarming, but other sectors score better. Take the financial sector, for example. There, awareness of cyber attacks and threats is higher, partly because they face stricter laws and regulations. Within the manufacturing industry, not all companies are at that maturity level yet.
Ever-widening cybersecurity gap
The main survey results are as follows:
- 82 companies score lower than a 7
- The digital resilience of these companies deteriorated during the research period, ranging from 12% to as high as 62%
- The 80 best-scoring companies show a 13% growth in resilience over the study period
Investing to prevent cyber attacks
The above figures show a growing cybersecurity gap in the manufacturing industry, particularly as resilient companies become even more resilient and vulnerable companies become even more vulnerable. According to Geerts, the high-scoring companies further boost their scores because they see cyber attacks and threats as a strategic risk and act accordingly. "They practice with cyber attacks and invest for the long term in continuous monitoring and recovery capability. The lower-scoring companies mainly make ad hoc expenditures in cybersecurity."
Web applications most common starting point for cybercriminals
The research also shows that application security is one of the lowest-scoring security domains for the manufacturing industry. This result is in line with international figures showing that web application exploits are rising sharply and are often the starting point of serious cyber incidents. "Data breaches and IP loss are a real risk for the manufacturing industry, as the sector relies heavily on intellectual property such as designs and production drawings. Also, vulnerabilities in web applications can lead to disruptions in production processes, and affect the entire chain," Geerts explains.
Extra attention needed
According to Geerts, application security needs extra attention in the manufacturing industry. "Application security is not just an IT issue. It is a business risk that directly affects continuity, competitiveness and trust in the chain. Companies in the manufacturing industry need to invest structurally in cyber security. Not only to comply with laws and regulations such as NIS-2, but also to ensure that the production chain keeps running. Regardless of the digital threats coming at them," Geerts concludes.
Read also: Launch unique test environment for cybersecurity in manufacturing industry
Application security is not just an IT issue. It is a business risk that directly affects continuity, competitiveness and trust in the chainRemco Geerts, cybersecurity expert at Cegeka
About Cegeka
Cegeka was founded in 1992 by André Knaepen, today chairman of the board of directors. The company designs, builds and manages digital solutions tailored to the specific needs of their customers, with a portfolio that includes application services, business solutions, quality engineering, data & AI, digital workplaces, cyber resilience, networking & regulatory services and hybrid cloud.
The group is headquartered in Hasselt, Belgium. Cegeka Netherlands employs about 1,450 people. It has offices in Veenendaal, Eindhoven, Zoetermeer, Utrecht and Groningen. The company operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Romania, Moldova, Italy, Sweden, Greece, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Colombia and India. W
