A number of cyber breaches targeting organizations’ supply chains continues to rise, with an average 4.16 breaches reported to be negatively impacting operations this year, a 26% increase from the mean number of 3.29 breaches in 2022, according to data from BlueVoyant.
“Attacks targeting external vendors and partners are a constant threat,” says Joel Molinoff, BlueVoyant's global head of supply chain defense. “Our data suggests that the scope of the problem is increasing, with more enterprise vendors and suppliers falling prey to cyberattacks. Enterprises recognize the issue but the standard approach to third-party risk management is proving inadequate. Companies now need to focus energies on methods that proactively illuminate and reduce supply chain risk.”
Key takeaways:
- 47% of respondents monitored their supply chain for cyber risk monthly or more in 2023, compared to 41% in 2022.
- Discussions of artificial intelligence (AI) have dominated the technology market, including its use for cyber defense and on the flip side, its use by cyber criminals to attack organizations. Respondents say they are likely to be using AI to monitor their digital supply chain, but prefer to rely on a combination of AI and human analysts. More than half (55%) said they use automation only to manage certain aspects of their third-party cyber risk.
- 85% of respondents stated that their budget for third-party cyber risk has increased over the last 12 months, with 51% indicating they’ll allocate additional internal resources and 46% likely to add external resources.
- 44% of respondents reported briefing senior management teams monthly or more in 2023, compared to 38% in 2022.
“With a never-ending flow of headlines and regulatory requirements demanding attention to supply chain cyber risk, it is hard to ignore the importance of getting the proper defenses in place,” says Brendan Conlon, COO for BlueVoyant’s Supply Chain Defense. "Enterprises should examine their current approaches and identify areas for greater efficiency and continuous coverage — not only in detecting emerging vulnerabilities and risk, but also in quickly remediating threats hand-in-hand with impacted third parties.”
