Supply Chain Attacks on the Rise as Organizations Struggle to Close the Gaps

Global research company CrowdStrike surveyed over a thousand IT decision-makers and found companies awarness to combat supply chain attacks.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Jul 23, 2018

When one thinks about securing an organization, they often think of the physical security of the building around the organization. Now, in the world of data breaches and cyber attacks, a company can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to its infrastructure and networks.

Global research company CrowdStrike surveyed 1,300 IT decision-makers and IT professionals in the US, Canada, UK, Mexico, Australia, Germany, Japan and Singapore across major industry sectors to determine the mindset across organizations when it came to supply chain attacks, like NotPetya and the breaches that affected Target and Equifax.

The survey discovered that although nearly 80 percent of respondents believe software supply chain attacks have the potential to become one of the biggest cyber threats over the next three years, few organizations are prepared to mitigate the risks.

Specific findings from the survey include:

• 1,300 respondents found that two in three said their organization experienced a software supply chain attack in the past 12 months.
• The majority (87%) of those that suffered a software supply chain attack had either a full strategy in place, or some level of response pre-planned at the time of their attack. But attacks are still successful, which indicates that the strategies and technology currently in place aren’t stopping them.
• 90 percent confirmed they incurred a financial cost as a result of experiencing a software supply chain attack in the past, with the average cost of an attack at $1.1 million dollars
• 80 percent of U.S. respondents said supply chain attacks have the potential to become one of the biggest cyber threats over the next three years
• Just 37 percent of respondents in the U.S. said their organization has vetted all suppliers, new or existing, over the past 12 months
• 44 percent plan to use Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning to fight software supply chain attacks in the next 12 months

The survey points out that even though threats can occur in every sector of the economy, the industries that mostly experience thee attacks are biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, hospitality, entertainment and media and IT services.

Visit CrowdStrike to learn more about the Securing the Supply Chain Survey.