Consultant Insight: Minding the health of supply chain technologies

[caption id="attachment_69752" align="alignright" width="300"] Cathy Roberson, Cargo Facts Consulting senior consultant and Air Cargo World columnist[/caption] As supply chains embrace a variety of technologies to achieve visibility, real-time rates, inventory management, payments and more, companies will need to prioritize the health of these technologies, including the gaps between them. An estimated 2 million cyberattacks in 2018 resulted in more than US$45 billion in losses worldwide, according to the Internet Society’s Online Trust Alliance (OTA). Further details from the OTA found that the financial impact of ransomware rose by 60%, losses from business email compromises doubled and cryptojacking incidents more than tripled. Supply chains have increasingly become a target of these attacks, particularly as they become more interconnected via technologies. Perhaps the most noted attacks have been the NotPetya ransomware attack in 2017, which severely impacted Maersk’s global operations and FedEx’s TNT Express unit. In both situations, losses of over US$300 million were reported by each company as operations around the world were impacted. Now comes word that Toll Holdings, an Australian transportation and logistics company, has been impacted by a cyberattack. Toll reported that it became aware of the situation Jan. 31, and quickly disabled relevant systems to begin an investigation to determine the cause and put in place measures to deal with it. As of Feb. 6, the following message remains on its website: “As a result of our decision to disable certain systems following a recent cybersecurity threat, we’re continuing to meet the needs of many of our customers through a combination of manual and automated processes across our global operations, although some are experiencing delay or disruption.” In our 24/7/365 connected world, digitalizing business processes has now become a requirement for all. But while digitalization brings many benefits to businesses and customers alike, it also comes at a price, as experienced by Maersk, FedEx, Toll Holdings and many other companies. Lessons learned from Maersk include: Prevention is not an effective strategy. Instead, prioritize automated detection and response. Standard online backup is not a safe approach. Instead, “Cloud service providers need to take action to find a way of making cloud-based online backup a more secure solution,” according to Maersk’s chief technology and information officer. Patching is necessary but insufficient. Privileged access management is important. As logistics and transportation providers digitalize their own businesses and connect to supply chain partners, including airports and ports, questions regarding security must be raised and addressed. Specifically, the 2020 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) highlighted emerging cybersecurity challenges in the aviation industry in its report, Advancing Cyber Resilience in Aviation: An Industry Analysis . The challenge is indeed real. Cyberattacks are among the top 10 global risks of highest concern for the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2019 , and globally, their potential cost could be up to US$90 trillion in net economic impact by 2030. Key findings from the WEF report indicate the need to build a collective approach in identifying and addressing challenges and gaps by: Implementing consistent and suitable methods in cyber risk management, industrywide, to enable informed decision-making by aviation business stakeholders. Working with the risk management and ICT industries to develop effective incentives to encourage continuous improvement in cyber resilience. Managing the risk associated with emerging technology effectively, to increase the success of technology adoption in the aviation industry. Fostering a stronger culture of cyber resilience across the industry, including greater integration of operational and cyber skill sets. The time to act is now, particularly as yet another report indicates that 97% of airports are weak on cybersecurity. The only international airports that passed with top grades were Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (AMS), Finland’s Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL), and Ireland’s Dublin Airport (DUB). As supply chain professionals celebrate technology advancements and digitalization efforts, we must also make security a C-level priority. Collaborating and sharing best practices among all supply chain partners is certainly important, but educating all employees on best practices — including how to identify phishing or other questionable emails and making regular password changes — is equally important. While taking such precautionary measures will mitigate damages, it will not solve attacks entirely. The key is constant surveillance and quick action.

Consultant Insight: Minding the health of supply chain technologies

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