Logistics and Supply Chain Technology Report 2021

Chapter 5: Cybersecurity

Whilst the evolution of the supply chain to a digital first environment has heralded numerous benefits for a traditionally stagnant industry, it has simultaneously exposed vulnerabilities in a number of vital business operations, exploding assumptions about the security of data and the independence of business processes in cloud-centric environments. To this extent, cybersecurity operations have been a focus for many this year with the recent influx of supply chain attacks, zero-day exploits and ransomware causing widespread issues. As we have found, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a drastic impact upon uptake of digital infrastructure, accelerating digital transformation across the supply chain, with an eye towards building resilience. Unfortunately, as low levels of security awareness meet lax regulations and high digital connectivity, the interconnected and global nature of the logistics industry continues to provide fertile ground for cybercrime to thrive. Developing markets are at particular risk from ransomware and malware attacks. Contextualised by a worrying attitude towards security, with executives often casting concerns around the impact of security incidents as exaggerated, logistics operations remain a persistent concern for a global market looking to mitigate cyber risk. The growing toolset of attacks available to would-be-hackers demands organisations to implement more frequent reviews of their infrastructure. Whether this be by shoring up existing threat mitigation strategies, investing in upgrading legacy infrastructure or preparing for the changing shape of work by enabling secure digital access for remote workers, continual review of business security strategy is a crucial part of ensuring security models improve as the threat landscape develops. A more optimised security model with continuous improvement cycles and with performance metrics judged against company goals will not only ensure security but also improved efficiency in IT operations, extending to the wider business environment as businesess move to cloud-based infrastructure.