In today’s digital landscape, businesses heavily rely on third-party software for their daily operations. This reliance has led to a surge in sophisticated software supply chain cyber attacks. These attacks exploit vulnerabilities in external tools or services to gain unauthorised access and compromise systems. The growing dependence on external software solutions amplifies the risk for organisations. Therefore, it’s essential that they take steps to bolster their security across the entire supply chain.
According to Verizon’s latest Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), cyber attacks in the supply chain have shot up by 68%. In addition, around 15% of all breaches reported in 2023 affected third parties. This represents a significant increase compared to the 9% reported in 2022.
The escalating risks within the supply chain present an ever-growing and alarming threat. The rising danger poses a concerning challenge to businesses of all sizes. Protecting customers’ and partners’ sensitive information from potential cyber attacks needs to be a priority, especially to mitigate new and emerging threats that are spreading fast among cyber criminal operators.
Risk assessment: an ally for cybersecurity systems
When using external providers, certain services and users will be managed outside the company. This means that people who are not part of the organisation are able to gain access to its systems. This complicates the task of detecting breaches and potential threats in the devices that form part of the supply chain. Unfortunately, this then meaningfully increases the likelihood of cyber attacks through this channel.
In light of this, the solution lies in ensuring a comprehensive analysis of the security status of all endpoints with access to an organisation’s systems.
It is only by conducting a thorough risk assessment, that companies can proactively identify current threats and potential risks and vulnerabilities across all their devices. This information enables organisations to tailor their cybersecurity systems to address any detected gaps, thereby mitigating the risk of attacks and protecting their data and confidential information.
Other tips to mitigate cybersecurity breaches
Once the vulnerabilities in devices have been identified, companies need to establish the solutions that are appropriate to protect themselves against these weaknesses and be able to remediate them. Some of these key measures include:
Patch Management
A risk assessment will pinpoint the weaknesses in your devices and servers, but what then? With Patch Management solutions, companies are able to plan, implement and manage the entire patch lifecycle. This allows them to prevent and mitigate vulnerabilities that could compromise endpoint cybersecurity.
Implement or adopt a zero trust approach
One of the risks of allowing third parties to enter a company’s systems is the possibility of losing control over who accesses sensitive information. Implementing zero trust technologies promotes a default-deny approach, allowing that only processes and applications classified/verified as trusted can run on the systems.
Establish a unified cybersecurity platform
Given the exposure to potential third-party vulnerabilities, it’s best to implement layered security to protect from all angles in case one security control fails. By adopting an integrated platform, businesses are able to create a cybersecurity mesh that safeguards networks, devices, users, and data from any threat across all aspects of their business model.
Establishing a cybersecurity protocol to mitigate supply chain risk is a serious responsibility for organisations. To ensure that the measures implemented are as effective as possible, it is essential to first run a risk assessment that detects vulnerabilities and threats throughout the supply chain. This will help strengthen protection against new and evolving threats.
- Risk & Resilience
