Washington, D.C. — As the United States transforms its manufacturing sector to curb emissions and produce clean technologies, a new report from the Center for American Progress highlights the urgent need to protect industry from the growing risk of cyberattacks.
The manufacturing sector, which includes everything from steel to electronics to cars, is the most targeted industry for cyberattacks. It accounted for about one-quarter of incidents in 2024, both nationally and worldwide. This is largely because many industrial systems are decades old and were not built to be compatible with modern cybersecurity practices. The same legacy infrastructure is also a major obstacle to climate goals.
Legislation enacted under the Biden administration incentivized hundreds of billions of dollars in investments aimed at uplifting clean technology manufacturing and reducing carbon emissions from the industrial sector. If this influx of capital had continued, manufacturers could have improved their cyber resilience while they modernized their systems.
However, the Trump administration and its push for passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act dismantled nearly all the policies that jump-started this manufacturing boom. The United States cannot afford to abandon this effort. Key recommendations from the report include:
- The federal government should maintain existing programs and reinstate dissolved programs that support the cybersecurity and decarbonization of the manufacturing sector.
- The government should offer new market-based economic incentives, such as tax deductions or federal grants, for commercial organizations that invest in cybersecurity best practices.
- States could implement tax incentives for companies that both decarbonize and improve their cyber resilience.
- States and local governments should coordinate to align on the same cyber regulatory requirements and create spaces to share best practices between industry and government.
- Private companies should prioritize preparedness and invest in upgrades that will make them resilient now and in the future.
Read the report: “Securing American Competitiveness: Building a Clean and Cyber-Resilient Manufacturing Sector” by Jamie Friedman
For more information, or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].