Supply chain sabotage, or the intentional disruption of a supply chain, typically targets physical assets or information with the ultimate goal of some sort of reward that achieves economic gain or political influence, for example. While threat actors can sabotage the supply chain in a multitude of ways, cyber threat increases the level of risk that is faced by these operations.
Why is cyber risk an important consideration?
In general, supply chain operations form large networks of interconnected systems. As a result, supply chains have a multitude of openings that can entice threat actors to do their worst.
Namely, there is potential for:
- Increased Attack Surface: Due to the interconnected nature of supply chains, threat actors have more opportunities to access vulnerable systems. This means that cyber criminals can target the weakest link and still cause major damage unless the proper fail safes are in place.
- Data Breaches: Companies are at a higher risk for data breaches as they often harbor a great deal of information based on the supply chain process.
- Operational Disruptions: Even the smallest sabotage can result in major disruptions.
- Increased Risk for Other Parties: Third party vendors may also be at risk, especially as threat actors may leverage these organizations to access more favorable targets.
Consideration of cyber risk does not stop at a discussion of risk. Instead, organizations should use this risk as a driving force to identify weak areas and take appropriate action. This, however, can be quite a challenge as supply chains are akin to spiderwebs; all parties work together for the final outcome, but are separate components with unique cyber needs and procedures.
What does Crowdstrike have to do with Supply Chain Sabotage?
In recent history, the Crowdstrike outage, while not a direct impact of supply chain sabotage, highlighted critical vulnerabilities that apply to supply chains and their security.
These include:
- A single point of failure. In other words, one single element (in this case a compromised software update) had significant impact on the company. Imagine the same ramifications applied to supply chains: One source of compromise negatively impacting a large number of organizations.
- A lack of visibility prevented the update from being detected before it was released. Because it was not detected early, it was able to cause harm, much is the case for undetected risk impacting supply chains.
- The faster the threat spreads, the more potential for widespread damage, as in the case of Crowdstrike where the update spread quickly through organizations. The farther the threat travels, and the faster it propagates, the stickier the situation becomes (and the more difficult to contain).
In addition to the above, imagine the impact of a successful threat once it takes down critical services. One outage in one location, especially if applicable to critical infrastructure, can bring a supply chain to a halt.
Finally, one of the most overlooked risks is third party vendors. By trusting a third party, businesses are opening themselves up to the same risk as the 3rd-party organization, but often are not aware of the inherent risk that may introduce to themselves. Think about how much data these third parties can have access too – if a threat actor gains access, they now have a greater chance of accessing all businesses associated with the organization.
How can you avoid these issues?
- All businesses should conduct their due diligence when it comes to third party vendors in order to determine compatibility with security practices and capabilities.
- Ensure that employees are educated on security awareness.
- Always keep a strong, updated Incident Response Plan that can be quickly enacted in the case of a breach.
- Continually monitor all aspects of the supply chain for threats and stay aware of current risks. This can include conducting occasional risk assessments, staying up to date with industry news, and logging activities within their organization where possible.
- Diversify the supply chain! This allows reduced risk of threat to all parties when one is compromised.
Cybersecurity Risks in Supply Chains
While the Crowdstrike outage provides important insight into cyber risk, it is also key to be aware of common threats that supply chains face. The list below outlines a selection of common risks associated with supply chains:
- Third party vulnerabilities – We may be over-discussing this, but that just shows how much these vulnerabilities put businesses at risk.
- Data integrity – Threat actors may not always want to steal information. In some cases, they may choose to disrupt or impact a document’s integrity, especially those related to supply chain activities. Think of the impact changing a blueprint or a design could have and how that activity may not cause an alarm since the document is seemingly intact.
- Data breaches + Intellectual property theft – Threat actors can access and steal information that can not only put the supply chain at risk but can also impact any associated parties, leading to financial loss, reputational damage, and legal liabilities.
- Supply chain disruption – Any threat or successful breach can disrupt and even bring supply chains to a grinding halt.
- Attacks such as ransomware and phishing – Threat actors can target individuals and organizations to demand payment, download malware, etc. that negatively impacts the supply chain.
- Insider threats – Employees can cause the biggest risk to supply chains as they often have access to systems and information without having to jump through hoops that an outsider might.
- Regulatory compliance – Perhaps the most important, regulatory compliance is key in a smooth supply chain.
What’s next?
Looking to the future, whether a supply chain has been visibly impacted by threats or not, there are key considerations to keep in mind. This comes as the technological landscape continues to change and evolve, meaning that cyber criminals are also finding new ways to cause damage.
Our team at Socium Solutions can help you and your organization to determine where your greatest risks lie and craft relevant solutions to avoid risk. The biggest misconception here, however, is that by simply introducing cybersecurity measures businesses can avoid any cyber threat moving forward. While that would be the best case scenario, it is impossible to avoid any cyber threat; businesses can, however, implement strong cybersecurity plans to deter threats and identify threats and risks before they cause damage.
What is most important when looking to protect a supply chain from cyber threat is to have a strong, fast response that quickly secures important data and removes any access that the threat actors have.
In addition, knowledgeable cybersecurity professionals can aid in determining and monitoring for emerging threats, prioritize risk management, drive effective communication about potential threats, and decrease the response time to cyber threats.
This leaves us on an important note: Resilience is key. By setting a supply chain up for success early on, and reviewing the potential risks, the chance for long term damage decreases. Contact us to learn more about how Socium Solutions can support you through the process.