Cybercrime continues to be a major global concern. Cybercriminals are using ever more sophisticated approaches and exploiting every possible means to intercept valuable data or disrupt IT systems. Organizations targeted and impacted by these attacks, including businesses, critical entities, governments and entire economies are being left facing serious financial consequences and operational disarray. According to estimates from Statista’s Market Insights, the global cost of cybercrime is expected to surge in the next four years, rising from $9.22 trillion in 2024 to $13.82 trillion by 2028.
One channel used by hackers that is fast becoming a key concern is the IT supply chain. Cybercriminals are exploiting vulnerabilities at third parties of an organization's supply chain such as vendors, suppliers and logistics and transportation companies in order to infiltrate the organization’s IT systems or access physical components destined to be implemented in products. Speculation that the recent device attacks in Lebanon were the result of third-party tampering highlights the crucial need to better secure not only software supply chains but also hardware. But how much of a threat does the IT supply chain really pose and what can be done to minimize the risks?
