Supply chain risks still threaten organisations across industries2 min read

In the past year, a lot of attention has been brought to the cyber risks inherent in remote working, which many organisations found themselves scrambling to cover. Overnight, guidance on working from home securely was disseminated, and employees were made aware of common cyberattacks, such as phishing. Now, a year later, most organisations should have a plan in place to mitigate these risks as many working environments will likely continue in some hybrid fashion for the foreseeable future.

However, cyber threats are still very present from within an organisation’s supply chain. Your organisation may have a heightened cybersecurity posture, but can still suffer a cyberattack if one of your suppliers or third parties is breached.

That’s why it is important to have an understanding of your overall digital risk posture – not just your organisation’s ongoing risks, but the risks and cybersecurity status of your third parties. Of course, this can be a daunting task. Very few organisations will have full security teams focused on mitigating every threat or attack. Instead, try putting in place a basic strategy to understand and manage your digital risk. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Understand the scope of your attack surface. It’s crucial to begin this process by understanding how large your attack surface is – chances are, it’s much bigger than you think it might be. Do an audit of all of your third parties, from suppliers to cloud platforms you use. Every cyberattack that any of these organisations suffer could lead to a breach in your organisation as well.

Understand the cybersecurity status of your third parties. This can be trickier and take more time – try to get an accurate assessment of the cybersecurity status of every third party. This should be done regularly, and can be done manually, using questionnaires. However, with the complexities of today’s digital world, it’s better to automate this process, using a tool like CyDesk.

Take regular action to mitigate risks and manage your digital security posture. This may seem obvious, but without regular actions to update and strengthen your cybersecurity posture, you will consistently leave your organisation open to a myriad of risks. Make any necessary adjustments quickly to reduce your risk and prevent a costly cyberattack.

Hackers will always find new ways of breaching cybersecurity measures. However, with some planning and help, you can ensure that your organisation’s cybersecurity posture is as strong as possible.