Overview of Cyber Risk in the Supply Chain
A general view of supply chain risk
The supply chain has become one of the most exploited attack vectors, because compromising a vendor with weaker security controls is usually easier than directly attacking the target organization, and that vendor often already has legitimate access to internal systems or data. This risk ranges from software vendors that distribute compromised updates to service providers that handle sensitive data or maintain direct connections to the internal network. The picture gets more complicated because the risk doesn't end with the direct vendor but extends to that vendor's subcontractors, forming a chain of dependencies many organizations haven't even mapped. Understanding this landscape realistically, instead of assuming security ends at your own perimeter, is the starting point for justifying investment in a formal third-party risk management program.