TECHNOLOGY
of those supplier connections and gather very sensitive information to gain a competitive advantage . And there is also the problem of hacking just for the sake of sport .”
So what can businesses do to avoid this happening ? Although cyber attacks are evolving every day making them virtually impossible to completely eliminate , there are things you can do to reduce the chance of your company falling victim to hackers . Here is Peterson ’ s advice on four simple ways to make it harder for hackers to infiltrate your supply chain .
1 . Identify and understand exactly who your suppliers and partners are . As Peterson says , “ Do basic research on who your suppliers are and if they are going to have a critical role within the supply chain , then you need to do a higher level of research regarding cyber security .” Every company needs to understand their partners ’ cyber security risk , as well as their own .
2 . Use approved vendors . “ Every company should have a supplier approval process – some type of methodology or protocols in place to vet each supplier that they are working with ,” says Peterson . This is necessary not just for cyber security reasons , but will also assist when determining if suppliers are breaking any social or ethical responsibility rules .
3 . Know your contracts inside and out . “ Make sure you have strong partnership agreements and contracts . What are the terms and conditions in your contracts ? This will make it harder for suppliers to ‘ do things under the cloak of darkness ’.”
4 . Constantly evaluate your suppliers . “ On a quarterly basis , you should be evaluating your suppliers and your suppliers ’ performance . The more times you do that , the more you will be able to understand who your suppliers are and what they are capable of doing , where their strengths and weaknesses are .” This also means that your supplier will have reason to maintain – or improve – the products and services that they deliver to you .
16 December 2016