As supply chain networks expand in complexity and interconnectivity, they become increasingly vulnerable to cyber threats. Whether it's an individual hacker, an organized crime group or state actors, they pose significant risks to economic stability and can disrupt production on a massive scale, affecting everything from manufacturing to food distribution to healthcare.

The 2024 BCI Supply Chain Resilience Report found that almost 80% of organizations’ supply chains were disrupted in some way over the past 12 months. A majority of those disruptions were a direct result of cyberattacks, placing cybersecurity as a prominent threat to watch over the next 5 years. Yet despite this fact, many IT managers and developers harbor a dangerous mindset that falling victim to a breach “could never happen to me.” This creates an overconfidence in code and internal practices, leading to a lack of proper security defenses. From misplaced trust in software to weak password management and careless digital behavior, it takes only one gap in security to bring down an entire operating system. 

The multi-partner nature of global supply chains heightens the risk of increased vulnerabilities, especially if strong safeguards aren’t in place. In order to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information, cybercriminals often seek out the weakest points in third-party systems. Once in, ransomware and malware can spread rapidly, while hackers harvest a wealth of private data and sell it on the dark web. Such attacks provide a gateway for repeated data theft and espionage, leading to catastrophic consequences that can take months to recover from.

Rebuilding vs. Recovering

However, recovery should never be linear. In fact, adopting a short-term mindset on a long-term issue is a costly rabbit hole to go down. An attack is never just a one-time event; hackers often return repeatedly when they find gaps in security, and even attack a second time before a company is fully recovered from the initial breach. While recovery is crucial to an organization getting back on its feet, it rarely addresses the root cause. Instead, an organization must handle its recovery while also prioritizing the enforcement of proactive security measures that will help mitigate future risk.

It's crucial that companies adopt disaster-recovery, business-continuity and emergency plans that foster collaboration with logistic partners. The investment in comprehensive security strategies begins with a rigorous risk assessment and heavy vetting of third-party software. From poorly maintained or configured systems to easy-to-access data, vulnerability monitoring can simulate what approach a criminal could take to infiltrate systems, while sounding the alarm on possible risks. 

The confidentiality and integrity of data are threatened the moment that a vulnerability is found within a company’s network. Thus, the immediate application of security patches should be a top priority. Yet the complexity that comes with managing and updating patches for on-premise software is a major cause of technological headaches for supply chains. 

The sheer magnitude of this task often overwhelms internal teams. Not only do many organizations lack the specialized resources and expertise needed to navigate this complex process, they’re still operating off of traditional patching methods. Patch management is viewed by security teams as a highly disruptive, time-consuming process that threatens to halt day-to-day business operations if extended downtime is necessary. IT staff members are already overworked and understaffed, so it’s not surprising that patching can get swept under the rug. Yet delaying the application of security patches by weeks or even months can make high-risk vulnerabilities appear at unexpected times, and leave companies exposed to cyberattack.

Discover, Deploy and Defend

Consistency in patch management is essential for establishing effective security measures. The introduction of live patching to internal security teams can check many boxes, as companies strive to create a solid foundation for long-term cybersecurity. The process allows IT teams to streamline their workload and reduce costly recovery time, while maintaining compliance. With automatic bug fixes, performance patches and security updates applied in real time, systems can remain up to date without the need for frequent reboots or routine maintenance windows.

Additionally, switching to an automated form of patching can allow IT teams to better allocate their time to more strategic tasks, such as employing security audits, establishing multi-factor authentication (MFA), encrypting sensitive data, and enforcing strict access controls across the supply chain network.

Prioritizing the building of a strong cyber defense should be non-negotiable for company IT teams. While supply chains face global disruptions, workforce challenges, and struggles from outdated technology on a daily basis, cybersecurity can’t afford to fall by the wayside. Cybercriminals are only becoming more sophisticated and more difficult to detect over time. By anticipating new threats and defending vulnerabilities before they can be exploited, vendors, suppliers and consumer organizations can ensure that they stay ahead of devastating breaches while maintaining network security.

Joao Correia is technical evangelist at TuxCare.