Identify the weak link before your supply chain breaks

3 Cyber Resilient Supply Chain Fixes you can make today 

Imagine the unimaginable: a cyberattack on one of your suppliers cripples your entire supply chain. Your ability to deliver products and services is compromised. Confidential data is stolen. Business is lost, and your reputation is irreversibly damaged. 

Interdependency is exposing companies to vulnerabilities they’ve not prepared for, vulnerabilities that can cause a ripple effect across the supply chain. With the estimated annual cost of cyber-crime on the UK economy currently valued at £27 billion, these ripples can cause catastrophic financial implications for you, your partners and your customers. 

 Modern supply chain attacks exploit the relationships between manufacturers, suppliers and buyers. Attackers often target the weakest link; the organisation in the chain that has the poorest security measures. By attacking one company, a cyber-threat can take down much larger businesses in the chain.  

The key to protecting yourself and your partners goes beyond just identifying and addressing the weakest links in your supply chain before they have a chance to be exploited. You must also make every effort to be a strong link, be cyber resilient and able to protect your business against attacks to continue operations should the worst occur. 

Understanding the stakes

98% of companies have third party connections that have experienced cyber security breaches in the past 24 months. A cyber-attack on just one supplier can lead to: 

• Compromised corporate information or customer data 
• Theft of financial information 
• Theft of money 
• Disruption to order fulfilment and trading 
• Erosion of trust and reliability 
• Significant reputation damage and loss of business 

Software supply chains are at particular risk, with hackers injecting backdoors or malware into one company to grant them access to others. The 2020 SolarWinds attack allowed hackers backdoor access to thousands of corporate and government servers, leading to data breaches and security incidents across dozens of areas of government. 

With threats becoming increasingly complex and intelligent, even the best protected companies are at risk of the worst occurring. Cyber resilience ensures your business operations don’t come to a halt in the wake of an attack. 

To say the least, cybersecurity and cyber resilience is vital to protecting not just yourself, but every partner, company and customer across your supply chain. To best protect yourself, you must first identify the weak links in your supply chain.  

Weak links in your supply chain 

Supplier Vulnerabilities 

Even if you are confident in your own cybersecurity, your suppliers may not have the same measures in place. Once a supplier’s systems are compromised, it can lead to data breaches, operational disruptions and financial losses. This breach can also act as an entry point for cybercriminals to access the rest of your supply chain.  

Imagine a cybercriminal gaining access to the financial information of every single client, or a competitor gaining access to your confidential pricing strategy because of a supplier’s lax cybersecurity measures. The consequences, financial and otherwise, could be devastating. 

It is not enough to assume that your suppliers are as secure as you are. Collaborate with them to ensure you have stringent and consistent cybersecurity practices in place, such as: 

• Periodic security audits 
• Clear security protocols 
• Incident response plans 

Consider including cybersecurity stipulations in your supplier contracts and policies, making it a requirement for them to uphold comprehensive security measures. By holding suppliers to high security standards, you can significantly reduce the risk they pose to your business, and the rest of the supply chain. 

Data Exposure 

Where a supply chain involves the exchange of huge amounts of sensitive data, like customer information, financial records and proprietary data, any security breach at any point in the chain opens the door for all of the supply chain companies. 

Breaches like these can have serious consequences. Along with customer implications, elements of your supply chain could handle critical confidential business information: product designs, marketing strategies, sensitive assets. The quantity of data exchanged over a supply chain goes hand in hand with increased security risk. 

It’s crucial to enact comprehensive data protection measure across your chain. All sensitive data, whether in transit or at rest, should be encrypted. Access controls should be stringent and regularly updated to ensure that only authorised personnel have access to confidential information. Regularly audit and monitor data handling practices in your own company and across your supply chain, ensuring all partners are adhering to the same data protection standards.

Human Error  

Your supply chain is only as secure as the individuals interacting with it. Human error should not be overlooked as a threat, whether unintentional or malicious.  

A good approach to cyber resilience recognises that people make mistakes and incorporates a strategy that accounts for this risk. Assessing the risks and the weak points (open-source platforms, poor/reused passwords, lack of knowledge) means mitigation is possible. 

Comprehensive training for all personnel in your supply chain arms your team with the know-how to be your best line of defence. Being well-versed in password etiquette, identifying phishing and SMS scams coupled with regular security and pressure testing keeps you and them on top of threats.  Identify areas for further development and create robust incident response plans that ensure your employees and the employees of the companies you work with know what to do in the event of a security breach. 

By recognising the opportunities for human vulnerabilities and proactively addressing them, you can minimise the risk of security breaches taking advantage of these weak links.  

Protect Your Supply Chain With Cyber Resilience  

The key to tackling the weak links in your supply chain is not just cyber security, but cyber resilience.  

Beyond mere threat identification and response, tackling the challenges with a hypervigilant approach to anticipate breaches before they occur is your best form of defence. . Deterring hackers and actively pursuing hidden potential threats, it keeps you one step ahead of your attackers.  

Cyber resilience is the key to leveraging the potential of an attack to your advantage; using analysis-informed recovery and reform to adapt your approach and that of your supply chain, ensuring every potential threat is turned into an opportunity for growth. 

Scale your cyber resilience 

At Conosco, scaling your cyber resilience is our focus.  We offer a range of (fixed price) services designed to support you and your organisation in future-proofing and building a resilient supply chain. 

Vulnerability assessment: We start by conducting a comprehensive risk assessment of your supply chain. This involves identifying potential weak links and vulnerabilities that could be exploited by cybercriminals. 

IT Security solutions: We provide state of the art security solutions tailored to your organisation’s needs, including robust firewalls, advanced threat detection and employee training programs that enhance your protective measures. 

Incident response planning: Our experts work with you to develop detailed incident response plans. This ensures that in the event of a cyber incident, your organisation can respond swiftly and effectively, minimising downtime and reputational damage. 

Continuous monitoring: Our advanced monitoring systems keeps a constant watch over your digital infrastructure, identifying and addressing potential threats in real time. 

Threat intelligence: We provide up to date threat intelligence bi-weekly to keep you informed about the latest cyber threats and vulnerabilities allowing you to proactively address potential risks.  

Conclusion 

While cyberthreats can impact any part of your supply chain and endanger the resilience of the business, a comprehensive security strategy will identify and address weak links in your supply chain quickly and efficiently. 

Cyber resilience is the key to achieving this. By leveraging possible threats to your advantage, you can ensure the continuation of your operations should the worst occur. 

Conosco is ready to support your journey towards a resilient supply chain. Act now to safeguard your supply chains future.