Disruptions within supply chains are becoming more common ,” says Tim Mackey , Senior Principal Consultant at Synopsys CyRC . “ Suppliers at every level need to understand not only what the risk of attack they might bear is , but also how any disruption in their operations will impact their consumers . When it comes to cyber attacks , it is the attacker who defines the rules . They decide the timing and the nature of their efforts . If successful , they also define what type of disruptive activity they perform . Some might attempt a ransomware attack , others might attempt to modify plant operations or seek to download data . This requires a level of cyber awareness to become part of overall business operations and an increased level of transparency between partners .”