In 2025, Los Angeles’s manufacturing sector faced a dramatic increase in cyberattacks—many stemming not from their own internal gaps, but from risky access practices granted to third-party vendors.

Vendor Access: The Hidden Risk

When manufacturers grant remote access to service providers, software vendors, and supply chain partners, they open privileged doors to their digital infrastructure. In LA, the biggest breaches this year were frequently traced back to a handful of high-risk vendor behaviors:

• Excessive and unchecked access privileges: Factories often allowed vendors full administrative or unrestricted access to networks or devices, lacking segmentation or role-based controls. According to the Ponemon Report, 35% of manufacturing breaches nationwide in 2025 directly stemmed from these kinds of “open gate” permissions.
• No security vetting or periodic review: More than half of LA manufacturers failed to assess the cybersecurity posture of vendors before granting network access—a practice that commonly invited outdated, weak, or vulnerable software and devices into critical environments.
• Poor visibility into vendor network access: Alarmingly, 43% had no comprehensive inventory of which vendors (and what accounts) had ongoing access, meaning “forgotten” or lingering connections were left open for months or years.
• Insecure remote access tools: Many breaches exploited unpatched remote desktop utilities, exposed IoT devices with public IPs, or poorly configured VPNs, leading to direct compromise of sensitive operational systems.
• Lack of privileged-access management: Without enforcing least privilege, some vendors could perform unauthorized actions—modifying configurations, deploying malware, or exfiltrating data unnoticed.

Real-World LA Incidents

Recent public breach disclosures highlight how these practices played out:

• Los Angeles Cold Storage was breached in February 2025 via ransomware, with reports citing vulnerabilities linked to remote third-party access. The incident highlighted how poorly managed remote connectivity exposed payroll and operational data to threat actors.
• Sector-wide, breaches associated with supply chain platforms like MOVEit, cloud CRM providers, and industrial automation software left dozens of local manufacturers exposed when vendors failed to patch critical flaws or restrict network entry.

Lessons for LA Manufacturers

What can businesses learn?

• Vetting and monitoring: Consistently vet vendor security before on-boarding and require regular, documented reviews of every connected partner’s posture.
• Inventory and segmentation: Maintain detailed inventories of vendor access and segment network permissions—limiting third-party vendors strictly to what’s necessary.
• Update and secure remote access: Replace outdated remote access tools, enforce multi-factor authentication, and close public-facing network holes for industrial/internet-connected devices.

Building a Safer Supply Chain

For Los Angeles manufacturers, mitigating supply chain cyber risk means being relentless about vendor security—treating every third-party connection as a potential attack vector. It’s not just about protecting data; it’s about safeguarding production continuity, job security, and the region’s economic backbone. The future of LA’s manufacturing security depends on closing the gaps in vendor access—before attackers find them first.