Page 44 - Cyber Warnings

Cyber Security and the Supply Chain: Strengthening the Weak

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By Simon Taylor, VP Product at Glasswall Solutions

In today’s cyber security climate, with high-profile hacks and data breaches constantly in the
headlines, businesses are putting more effort than ever into covering all of their bases.

Attributed in part to increasingly stringent compliance regulations and mandatory audits
enterprises are placing particular pressure on all of their suppliers, regardless of size, to
demonstrate the strength of their cyber security defenses.

For supply chain partners, this requirement represents a major challenge. If, for example, a
partner or potential partner were to ask your CIO to demonstrate all of the steps your business
was taking to ensure the entirety of its data and communications are safe, would it be able to
meet baseline compliance standards or pass the audit?

If not, your business could face everything from stiff financial penalties to restrictions on its data,
to more frequent audits. And as a result, potential partners would likely avoid your business in
favor of a safer supplier.

Whether it is in recruitment, accountancy, law or catering supplies, inadequate security
defenses jeopardize the trusted relationship in the supply chain, with failure to demonstrate
accountability, compliance and effective reporting critical factors behind the decisions about who
does business with whom.

Traditional security solutions will no longer cut it. In addition, the EU General Data Protection
Regulation will take effect in just over 15 months, affecting any organization doing business
within the EU. Subsequently, it will be imperative for organizations to start implementing solid
security strategies and policies in order to ensure that they’re adhering to these new impending
regulations.

Among other things, putting these new cybersecurity measures in place will require
implementing measurable and reportable intelligence capabilities, not only regarding their own
cyber security practices, but also those of their partners and suppliers.

Innovation and a strong and sustained focus on the critical and most vulnerable areas of
security will be key to staying one step ahead of attackers.

The question is, do enough partner and supplier businesses understand the nature of the
threats and what is required to defeat them? Are they able to provide demonstrable reporting to
the satisfaction of their legal department when completing supplier cyber security
questionnaires?
44 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine February 2017 Edition
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