A supply chain is a network of facilities that are responsible for the procurement of raw materials, the transformation of those raw materials into intermediate commodities, and finally, the delivery of finished goods to end users via a distribution system. It is the network of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in the delivery of a product or service to a customer. While these supply chain components are essential for smooth operations of a business, they can also expose a business to cyber security risks.
The following tips can help in improving cybersecurity for supply chain network of a business.
- Verify Third-Party Vendors: Prevention is the most effective method for enhancing the cybersecurity of a supply chain. Cybercriminals find third-party vendors to be an easy and lucrative target, as a majority of third-party vendors have inconsistent cybersecurity protocols. Once attackers infiltrate the network of these vendors, they can acquire access to their client’s data. This makes it important to assess the cyber security practices of the third-party vendors to check if they are as per the industry standards. Also, analyze the history of cyber security breaches the third-party vendors have experienced in the past.
- Access Management: Understand the role and responsibilities of the vendor. Analyze the tasks the vendor needs to perform and the data that is essential to accomplish them. Grant access to the necessary data and tools to the vendor instead of providing open access. This ensures minimized exposure in case the vendor experiences a breach.
- Understand the Risks: Knowing the risks you may encounter is essential to formulate an effective mitigation plan. To begin with, list all cyber security risk scenarios through which cybercriminals can infiltrate your network. Once you understand the risks, work towards mitigating these risks starting with the risk with highest impact.
- Know Your Critical Systems: Critical systems and data include the information and systems that are essential for smooth operations of a business. These systems and data may include user data, business documents, financial data, communication channels, business core applications, etc. Knowing your key systems allow you to know what must be protected in all situations. Develop strategies to safeguard these systems and data.
- Speed Up Detection: Despite effective measures, understand that you might face supply chain based cyber-attacks. Early detection of infiltration helps in timely response, recovery, and remediation of the breach. Educate your employees to be able to detect an attack at first instance and report it to the right department.
- Recovery Plan: Lay out a well-defined recovery plan and document it. Make sure to include every employee’s role in the recovery plan and share it across the organization. Take regular backups to aid in data recovery and minimize the impact of a breach.
- Penetration Analysis: Cyber security is a dynamic environment as cybercriminals come up with new methods to bypass security measures. Regular penetration analysis and vendor monitoring help in detecting vulnerabilities at the earliest. This helps in preventing zero-day attacks.
To know more about tips to improve supply chain cyber security, contact Centex Technologies. You can contact Centex Technologies at Killeen (254) 213 – 4740, Dallas (972) 375 – 9654, Atlanta (404) 994 – 5074, and Austin (512) 956 – 5454.