Risk assessment and building more resilient supply chains should be top of mind for executive and management professionals working in the supply chain industry.

Taking more advanced measures to protect supply chains will be essential moving forward to mitigate setbacks like what occurred during the pandemic and prevent cybersecurity breaches. 

This article will address proper risk assessment and offer insights into building more resilient supply chains using advanced cybersecurity strategies to ensure adequate data protection for companies, their employees, and third-party partners.  

Building a More Resilient and Secure Supply Chain 

Given the severe disruptions cyberattacks can cause to business operations and reputations, companies must strengthen their defenses to protect sensitive data. The impacts of cyberattacks on businesses are particularly devastating for small and medium enterprises, which often struggle to recover from such incidents.

As supply chains become more digitized, the risks of cyberattacks increase, and supply chain managers must develop more advanced security strategies. This can be achieved by adopting technological solutions in tandem with smarter organizational practices to better navigate data privacy and mitigate threats.

1. Risk Intelligence

The first step in developing better cybersecurity practices is recognizing and understanding the risks you face. This process is better known as risk intelligence and it involves discovering and identifying potential risks so that you can take more proactive measures to eliminate them. Risk intelligence can be utilized for any type of risk, such as financial risks, but it is also incredibly beneficial when dealing with cybersecurity risks. 

Before you can implement the right cybersecurity protocol, you must first thoroughly understand what security threats your company faces as well as where and how you are vulnerable. Only then can you implement the necessary strategies to reduce the likelihood of a risk occurring.  

2. Data-Centric Approach

Once you’ve identified the cybersecurity risks, then you can start adopting tools and technologies to help mitigate risk. As cybersecurity risks primarily center around data breaches, then the tools you adopt must have a data-centric focus. 

There are several data tools available today that can be used to better secure and optimize the supply chain, such as data security posture management (DSPM) tools that enable you to take better control of data security in the cloud. DSPM provides greater data visibility, ensuring sensitive information is compliant and secure. 

It’s also important to adopt tools that help with encryption and data sharing, to ensure that even if data is intercepted, it remains useless to unauthorized users. Blockchain technology, for example, can significantly reduce the risk of breaches and fraud by enhancing security, traceability, and transparency. 

3. Multi-Layered Authentication

When it comes to securing data in the supply chain, it is also important to limit who has access to what. Data leaks and breaches often happen when too many people have access to sensitive data. So you must develop a protocol that ensures only the necessary people have access to certain systems and information. 

Additionally, you should also be using multi-layered authentication when anyone is accessing sensitive data. By requiring multiple forms of verification, it reduces the risk of unauthorized users accessing private systems and data. 

4. Third-Party Assessments

Supply chains often involve the use of third-party vendors and partners to keep things running. However, if those third parties are not thoroughly vetted, it could lead to cybersecurity breaches. Even after establishing the fact you are working with a safe third-party vendor, you must still establish clear contracts that thoroughly outline processes and responsibilities to ensure data protection. 

5. Employee Training and Awareness

Cybersecurity should be a collaborative process. The best way to ensure your supply chain is protected is to make sure everyone who plays a part in the supply chain is aware and collaborating effectively. 

This can be achieved with comprehensive cybersecurity training for both employees and contractors as well as the right collaboration tools that enable more effective and safe communication. 

The goal should be to make it easier and more convenient for everyone to learn and communicate about safe security protocols. This ensures that everyone is onboard and thoroughly understands the risks and their responsibilities with regard to keeping data protected.    

6. Executive Cybersecurity Awareness

It’s not only important to provide training for supply chain employees, but upper-level executives should also be made aware of how their practices can put the company at risk. Executives are often targeted by cybercriminals because they have access to highly sensitive data that can provide a bigger payout if compromised. 

So in addition to providing general cybersecurity training for employees, provide a cybersecurity guide for executives as well and present cyber risks to them in a way that aligns with leadership’s strategic decision-making. This means moving away from technical jargon and focusing on the business impact of potential cyber threats. Learning how to effectively communicate cyber risks to leadership ensures executives receive the actionable insights they need to protect the organization without getting lost in unnecessary details.

Wrapping Up

After new cybersecurity protocols are put into place, you must conduct routine audits, which include testing for vulnerabilities to ensure everything is working and no new threats have arisen. Cybersecurity is an ongoing process. It’s not something you can address one time and then forget about it. 

You must continually assess risks, identify new vulnerabilities, implement new technologies, and regularly remind employees and executives of their responsibilities in helping to keep data safe. This will become increasingly important and necessary as supply chains become even more digitized and interconnected.