Attacks on supply chains are getting more prevalent. Businesses must deploy several countermeasures to protect themselves from supply chain threats. They must do security training and vendor evaluation on a priority basis. Having a countermeasure in place is the most effective strategy to reduce the danger of a supply chain attack.
Several security measures in place are still ineffective when dealing with the most critical threats. One of the leading causes of cybercrime is the failure to secure supply chains. In 2021, the number of cyber-attacks targeting supply chains and critical infrastructure reached an all-time high. Experts predict that in 2022, these attacks will become more prominent.
It might be challenging to protect critical infrastructure from supply chain threats. Many of the systems that run these vital systems have operational frameworks that may be exploited. As a result, the key concern of businesses is ensuring that their partners are aware of the risks involved with their actions.
Businesses can adopt the following practices to reduce the risks connected with third parties and address supply chain threats.
Evaluating the Supply Chain
Removing trust is crucial security practise against supply chain attacks. In addition to maintaining security best practices for the software developers build and consume, it is critical to analyze the cybersecurity activities of third-party contributors.
Businesses should not give third-party vendors access to their network until they thoroughly examine their security measures. They should evaluate their governance policies, security risk posture, technical security measures, and compliance processes.
Assessment will allow them to understand supply chain risks better and adopt the processes and controls required to detect, address, or prevent supply chain threats.
Leveraging Honeytokens
Honeytokens function as tripwires, alerting businesses to unusual behavior in their network. They are fake resources masquerading as sensitive information. Attackers mistake these dummy resources for real assets, and when they engage with them, a signal is sent to the company, warning them of an attack attempt.
This strategy provides enterprises with early warnings of data breach attempts and details on each breaching method.
With this intelligence, businesses can isolate the exact resources being attacked and deploy the most effective incident response measures for each cyber-attack method.
Honeytokens could potentially reveal the location and identity of a cyber-attacker if they aren’t operating behind a firewall. Vendors should also implement honeytoken to be most successful at preventing supply chain attacks.
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
After breaching a defense, cyber-attackers look for privileged accounts by moving laterally throughout the ecosystem.
Therefore, breach attempts, and hence supply chain attacks, could be stopped by blocking an attacker’s progress along this path. An effective Privileged Access Management (PAM) architecture will disrupt this typical attack path, but the PAM should be kept secure further to reduce the risk of a supply chain attack. Also, to safeguard a PAM, businesses should have both external and internal defenses.
Regularly Monitoring Third Parties
All operations between the company help third-party vendors must be monitored and reviewed regularly – this can help detect suspicious or unusual behavior that could signal a supply chain breach.
An unusual or malicious act by a third party with whom businesses interact is not always planned. They could be the target of an attack, leaving the organization vulnerable. It is crucial to log activities on network devices and endpoints to make it easier to discover anomalies. This data is necessary for identifying and mitigating risks and addressing critical events.
Also Read: Three Ways to Build an Effective Security Awareness Training Program for 2022
Security Awareness Training is a Must-Have
Employees should understand how software supply chain attacks might take place and their role in detecting, resolving, and preventing risks.
Employees should be educated on all areas of cybersecurity, including social engineering attack methodologies, password security, testing practises, secure code, and company policies. Employees who have a better understanding of threats can better prevent attacks, respond promptly to active attacks, and protect the organization’s sensitive data and critical systems.
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