7 Best Practices for On-Going Supply Chain Security Monitoring

Businesses rely on a complex network of suppliers and vendors to deliver products and services. This interconnectedness creates a significant vulnerability: cyber-attacks on any part of the supply chain can have a devastating impact on an organisation’s operations, reputation, and finances. There have been many recent examples of supply chain cyber breaches – British Airways, the British Library and SolarWinds to name a few – these highlight the growing concern in this space. Hackers are exploiting weaknesses right now – action must be taken.

Third Party Risk Management and supply chain security monitoring is essential for mitigating these risks. By proactively monitoring your supply chain for vulnerabilities and threats, you can take steps to prevent attacks and minimise the damage if they do occur.

What is Supply Chain Security Monitoring?

Supply chain security monitoring, or TPRM, is the process of continuously monitoring your supply chain for potential security risks. This includes assessing the impact if the supplier has a breach, understanding what controls they have in place, identifying and assessing vulnerabilities in your suppliers’ systems and networks, as well as monitoring for suspicious activity that could indicate an impending attack.

Why is Third Party Risk Management Important?

Supply chain cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly common and sophisticated. In 2020, there was a 62% increase in supply chain cyber-attacks, and these attacks are only expected to become more frequent and severe in the future. According to Verizon’s “2024 Data Breach Investigations Report,” the use of vulnerabilities to initiate cyber-attacks grew by 180% in 2023, compared to 2022. Of those breaches, 15% involved a supplier, such as software supply chains, hosting partner infrastructures, or data custodians. 

The consequences of a supply chain cyber-attack can be significant. A successful attack can disrupt operations, damage your reputation, and result in financial losses. In some cases, like the MedTech sector,  it can even lead to physical harm.

Top 7 Best Practices for Supply Chain Cyber Monitoring

There are a number of steps you can take to improve your supply chain cyber monitoring and implement a Third Party Risk Management strategy. Here are five of the most important:

1. Conduct regular risk assessments. The first step to effective supply chain cyber monitoring is to understand your risks. Conduct regular risk assessments to identify potential vulnerabilities in your suppliers’ systems and networks.

2. Establish a supply chain risk management program. A comprehensive supply chain risk management program can help you identify, assess, and mitigate supply chain risks. Your program should include understanding the impact should a supplier have a breach, a risk assessment process, a vendor risk management process, and an incident response or business continuity plan.

3. Work with suppliers to improve security. Your suppliers are an essential part of your supply chain, so it is important to work with them to improve their security posture. This may involve providing them with security training, helping them to implement security best practices, and sharing threat intelligence.

4. Strengthen data management. Data is a valuable asset, and it is important to protect it from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. Implement strong data security controls, such as encryption, access controls, and data loss prevention (DLP).

5. Limit supplier access. Grant suppliers only the access they need to perform their work. This will help to minimse the risk of unauthorised access to your systems and data.

6. Segment networks. Segmenting your networks can help to contain the spread of malware and other threats. This involves dividing your network into smaller, isolated segments.

7. Implement third-party monitoring. Third-party monitoring can help you to identify and track threats in your supply chain. Using a robust third-party monitoring solution like Azanzi TPRM can help you to gain full control over the security of your suppliers.

Additional Tips for Supply Chain Security Monitoring

In addition to the best practices listed above, there are a number of other things you can do to improve your supply chain cyber monitoring:

• Stay up-to-date on the latest cyber threats.
• Share threat intelligence with your suppliers.
• Conduct regular security awareness training for your employees.
• Have a robust plan for responding to cyber-attacks which includes your suppliers.

By following these best practices, you can significantly improve your supply chain cyber monitoring and reduce your risk of cyber-attacks.