The number of cyber and data attacks in the supply chain and logistics sector has been mounting in the last few years. The industry transition from paper trails and phone calls to doing business online has been marred by cyber-crime. It’s safe to say that the industry has found itself outpaced by the criminals.
A part of the reason is that cyber-crime prevention is myopically pursued as an issue of enhancing cyber security. To understand the cyber-crime landscape, let’s visualize a supply chain as a city with various ports connected with bridges – each port represents a supplier or vendor and the bridges connecting these ports represent the digital lines of communication. Combating supply chain fraud means protecting the bridges as much as the ports to keep the city safe.
Cyber security
Cyber security is about protecting internal IT systems of trading partners from cyber risks like ransomware, phishing, and sensor data and industrial technology intercepts.
This means protecting individual systems of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), logistics service providers (LSPs), asset carriers, terminals and compounds, and all other supply chain nodes and trading partners that are part of a supply chain ecosystem.
It entails providing effective cyber security education to your employees, updating devices and software regularly, conducting regular audits of the technological infrastructure, and implementing an event management system that can correlate data from various security tools.
Data security
A high-functioning supply chain ecosystem requires collaboration between trading partners through prompt sharing of information and data. Data security is about protecting this collaboration from a cyber or data attack and even from exposure to competitors.
No matter how secure an organization’s internal systems are, when communication with trading partners happens over email, traditional point-to-point EDI (electronic data interchange) interfaces in combination with MS-Excel file uploads, or TMS providers and visibility platforms the confidential data is vulnerable to a data breach or could be sold to competitors.
While cyber security is essential for preventing attacks, data security ensures that sensitive or confidential information is safe even when systems get compromised. Interoperability enabled by private blockchain technology allows you to own and protect your data from cyber-attack.
Protecting the supply-chain with cyber security and data security
When we talk about cyber-crime, it’s important to think about protecting the entire supply chain ecosystem: the internal and external systems of trading partners, and the way data and information are exchanged between trading partners to run daily supply chain operations.
Perhaps, the most important question to answer when planning a cyber incident response: how to protect the entire supply chain ecosystem from collapsing when one system is under attack?
Keeping a supply chain ecosystem safe and running even when your own or a partner’s system is under attack requires a fully running interoperable network solution.
All data on an interoperable network solution is encrypted and immutable (cannot be manipulated). It allows real-time tracking and tracing capability to proactively address disruptions in the supply chain with just a few mouse clicks to ensure timely and efficient delivery of goods to customers.
Interoperability
The IT software failure of CrowdStrike affected Microsoft applications and shut down supply chain operations in several industries globally. It emphasized how vulnerable IT infrastructure can be, and how dependent we are on digital information and data. In the event of such disruptions, an interoperable network solution enabled by private blockchain technology always keeps your supply chain ecosystem operational by immediately disconnecting any system that may be under threat, thus avoiding a potential full ecosystem shutdown.
