Coronavirus (Covid-19) has not only disrupted physical businesses but also online businesses including supply chains. As far as supply chains are concerned, they are exposed to multiple risks like fake orders, delayed shipments, environmental risk, inventory loss, etc.
Recent studies indicate that the logistics industry (the chain of business operations from the start point to the end-point) of the supply chain needs cybersecurity since it involves the electronic transfer of sensitive information. This has become an area of concern for supply-chain owners. The more joints in the supply chain, the riskier it becomes.
What is Supply Chain Logistics Management?
Supply Chain Logistics Management solely means the connectivity of the firm with third parties which include the dealers, retailers, suppliers, and other accomplices, used for transferring products and services. The entire process of product transfer starting from the origin of making the product, dispatching it to the retailers or wholesalers, which in turn reaches the customer which is the end-point, is called supply chain logistics management. There are many professionals and providers who multi-task and ensure that the final product meets the customer requirements before it reaches the customer.
Many companies utilize SCLM because it helps reduce costs and waste by eliminating inefficiencies, errors, and delays in logistics. It's also responsible for increasing an organization's competitiveness and profitability by enhancing operational efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness. More importantly, it enhances innovation and sustainability by adopting new technologies, practices, and standards that improve the environmental and social impact of the supply chain.
Statistics indicate that 82% of organizations use these third-party chains, which is bound to rise in the future.
Why are Supply Chains a Lucrative Target for Hackers?
Supply chains are like a warehouse of sensitive information which is a luscious target for hackers. There are ample links in a supply chain, and many times it is not possible to secure all of them. This makes it easy for cyber-criminals to penetrate through the loopholes in the supply chain and grab sensitive information.
A small security breach in the supply chain can disrupt the business operations, thus leading to colossal damages.
Recent Supply Chain Attacks include Dependency Confusion Supply Chain attacks, 2021 and Mimecast Supply Chain attacks, 2021.
Sadly, supply chains become hacker prey thanks to a lax security environment fostered by prioritizing budget over defenses. This negligence manifests as underfunded security teams, outdated and vulnerable systems, sloppy data handling, untrained employees, and a lack of overall security awareness, creating loopholes for hackers to exploit.
Hence, it becomes essential to identify and nullify these attacks for saving businesses as well as clients. In this article, I have elaborated few tips for protecting your supply chain from cyber-attacks. And if you’re contemplating fortifying your defenses, don’t think twice. Get a reputable cyber-security specialist like TechBrain. It will be the soundest investment you’ll make to protect your assets.
Tips on Securing Your Supply Chain from Cyber-Attacks:
1. Secure your Internal Systems:
Your organizational structure and your software require strong protection against cyber-attacks. Though web security measures like firewalls and anti-virus software are very prompt in protecting the network and shielding malware, never omit installation of SSL (Secure Socket Layers) certificate security, which gives robust 256-bit encryption.
Make this a compulsion for the entire supply chain, so that they diligently install SSL certificates for securing client-server communications. This in turn ensures data privacy and data integrity against hackers.
Let me help you out on this one. Visit CheapSSLShop which offers you a variety of global SSL brands and products at cheap rates to secure your supply chain.
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Regular backups, Two-factor authentication, and trustworthy software also help in securing your business supply chains.
2. Increase Employee Awareness:
If your employees or internal staff are not aware of the latest cyber-threats and their preventive measures, your business is in danger.
A Cyber-Threat Report by Netwrix shows a huge rise in accidental sharing of information by employees. The same has increased from 58% to 92%. This 34% rise in negligence can put your supply chain out of business.
Employees should be guided on the repercussions of opening phishing emails or malicious links. One wrong link clicked or one wrong software download can open the way for a hacker to penetrate your supply chains.
A hacker's entry into your supply chain can be a risk to your business. Hence, employee awareness against cyber-crimes and precautionary measures needed to be taken in case of contingencies should be defined and clarified.
Regular web security training and updated knowledge on cyber-threats go a long way in preventing mishaps.
3. Combine with your Supply Chain Parties:
When you own a business, you dominate the business security and internal systems. But when it comes to supply chain networks, there are partners, vendors, and other personnel who are all connected with your networks for the efficient functioning of the business.
Cyber-threats could enter through a partner link or a retailer chain and expose your data. To avoid such situations, ensure that your chain partners adopt proper securities for data privacy and organize regular audit checks. Make a contract for these third-party exposures to cohere to standard cyber-security practices, and make them accountable in case of security lapses. This will in turn help in patching small loopholes for hacker entry.
4. Hire a Cyber-Security Expert:
If your budget permits, consider investing in a trusted cybersecurity services provider who can fail-proof your supply chain security, networks, digital assets, and software and give you suggestions on how to mitigate security threats and third-party exposures.
They also help train employees on cyber-attacks and ensure the privacy of supply chain data.
5. Create a Disaster Recovery Plan:
“The More the Plans Fail, the More the Planners Plan” – Ronald Reagan.
No matter how well you planned your security, there’s always an escape plan, which can sometimes be found by canny hackers. And when this happens, it’s time to tighten your defenses again.
Sometimes natural disasters like system crashes may also hamper your business operations.
Create an effective disaster recovery plan in case of such contingencies. Data backup to the cloud, documenting your contact list, service providers, vendors, and partners, their licenses, their servers, and their network, all will help in instantly recovering your business operations.
This plan should have all the steps which need to be followed in case of a data breach. Take instant action to curb your supply chain damages.
In case of a breach, you need to prioritize the critical functions of your supply chain and restore them quickly to reduce the damage. These functions may vary depending on your business, but they could be manufacturing, order fulfilment, logistics, or specific data systems. You also need to assign a response team and set up clear communication protocols for all the internal and external stakeholders. Ensure everyone knows what to do and who to contact during a crisis.
6. Regular Security Audit:
Your supply chain requires an internal security audit conducted every 6 months or every year, to fix loopholes in the supply chain for improving flexibility and efficiency.
Many companies offer audit and security services along with certifications for supply chain security.
Tips to Remember while Auditing:
- Check if all the old devices are disconnected from your network and systems and non-used permissions and accesses given to third-parties, are deleted.
- Check for accesses given to staff, ensure that they are limited to required personnel only, and accesses given to ex-employees or employees shifted to other departments are revoked.
- Check if the software is updated regularly to fix vulnerabilities or not.
7. Improve Physical Security:
This tip doesn’t fit into the cyber-security criteria, but I feel that it’s important to strengthen physical security, to disallow intruders from gaining physical access to your systems.
It becomes quite easy to instigate an attack if the intruder has physical access to your systems. Ensure that no third parties, vendors, or suppliers have access to your offices.
8. Review Digital Link Chains:
Your supply chain is like a blooming tree, having lots of branches and sub-branches. Since your supply chain system is linked with your vendors, suppliers, and related third parties, its security is vital in securing your business data.
Any weak links can hamper your entire supply chain logistics. Evaluation of loT devices, and limiting accesses of information to related personnel, can help in catching the culprit.
9. Conduct Penetration Testing:
Hackers are becoming more sophisticated and are using more advanced methods of penetrating systems, to fulfill their evil desires. There was a point when passwords would comprise, just alphabets and numbers. That is history since modern hackers are now able to hack complex passwords too.
Different types of penetration tests as mentioned above can be conducted for your supply chain security. The ideal solution is to use a good Penetration Testing Tool regularly, to conduct these tests, for catching invasive culprits. These tools identify the weak links in the supply chain and eliminate the same before the hacker discovers and misuses them.
Some of the best penetration testing software and tools are Metasploit, Netsparker, Wireshark, etc.
Final Thoughts:
To secure your supply chain from digital threats is more complicated than securing your business. Since there are external parties involved, ensure that they also abide by the security protocols and use robust encryption security (SSL certificate security) which protects their systems against intruders.
Regular security audits and penetration testing tools are capable of preventing massive attacks and losses, due to their efficiency in identifying and nullifying the risks. Hope the above tips help in securing your supply chain and keeping your business safe from cyber-criminals.
