Supply Chain Attacks: What You Need to Worry About & How to Mitigate The Impact on Your Business

When we say the phrase supply chain, you might think of the retail and consumer products sector: physical supply chains concerned with creating and moving goods. However, we must also consider technology supply chains in the digital age. 

Technology supply chains refer to the increasing interconnectedness of businesses. If you think about your own company, you undoubtedly rely on a range of digital suppliers for solutions and services. 

Perhaps you use a payroll service provider or a SaaS solution like Teams, Trello or Slack. All of these services are part of your technology supply chain. 

In turn, your digital suppliers will also have their own suppliers. Quickly, we can see the vastness and opacity of today’s digital supply chains. 

The supply chain security risk

 Last year, hundreds of businesses were impacted by ransomware originating within the software company Kaseya. The hackers managed to breach Kaseya’s systems and, from there, enter the networks of Kaseya’s customers and partners. 

This type of attack is becoming more and more common. It’s what is known as a supply chain cyber attack. For hackers, supply chain cyber-attacks are a goldmine. They only need to compromise one company to get into hundreds of others. 

Moreover, as large companies have hardened their security, it’s become more difficult for hackers to breach them. So, cybercriminals are looking for ‘weak links’ in the supply chain that will allow them to get into larger enterprises. 

To make matters worse, supply chain security is often not prioritized in businesses. Research indicates that only 36% of companies have vetted all new and existing suppliers for security purposes in the last 12 months.

While supply chain attacks might not directly target SMBs, it is possible that your company could end up as collateral damage in one of these attacks. Because of this, it’s vital that you take precautions to protect your company. 

Here’s how to do it. 

How to improve supply chain security

 Supply chain security can seem like an overwhelming task, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right policies and solutions in place, you can dramatically reduce the chance of a supply chain attack impacting your business. 

We advise taking a four-step approach. If you would like assistance with supply chain security, speak to us. We can manage your digital suppliers for you to ensure that they meet adequate security standards. 

Separate your suppliers according to their risk: You should establish a clear picture of your suppliers and what data they have access to. Once you understand this, you can assign risk levels to your supplier. A supplier that provides office equipment, for example, will be considered low risk, while a supplier that deals with payroll data will be regarded as high-risk. After this exercise, you will know which suppliers present the most considerable security risk to your organization. 

Learn more about your high-risk suppliers’ security processes and solutions: You should approach your high-risk suppliers to find out more about their approach to security. We advise standardizing this process by using a supplier assurance questionnaire, which you can share with your supplier via email. Once you receive the answers, you should analyze them based on your level of risk tolerance. Where their answers aren’t satisfactory or present too high a risk, book a meeting with your supplier to discuss improvements. Your supplier should be willing to take action to improve their security. After all, they are at risk as well as you! 

Ask your supplier to improve their security posture: After the meeting, your supplier should have critical actions to take to improve their security. These actions should be formalized in writing, and you should give your supplier(s) a deadline to implement the changes by. If the supplier refuses to make changes, you may need to consider ending your relationship with them and finding an alternate provider. 

Monitor and improve: Once the supplier has improved their security to an adequate level, you can then move to the monitoring phase, where you periodically check in with your supplier to ensure that your requirements are being met on an ongoing basis. To make this process simple, it could be worth using a vendor risk management dashboard, which automates the process of supplier assurance and monitoring for you. 

Don’t forget your own security!

It’s all well and good to improve your suppliers’ security, but you also need to make sure that you aren’t the weak link in the supply chain. As well as having a supplier assurance process, make sure that your security posture is robust and protects you from today’s common cyber security threats. 

Let us handle the audit, so you can focus on doing what you do best!

With a full supply chain security audit and solution implementation, Unbound Digital can help your Johnson City, Tennessee business stay secure and efficient. 

Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Call 423-467-7777 or reach us online.