A digital supply chain incident occurs when an attacker gains access to an organization's infrastructure through a weak link in the supply chain. Instead of a direct attack on the main target, a less secure supplier, partner, or software vendor is often used as an 'entrance'.
- Indirect Intrusion: Malware or vulnerabilities are spread through legitimate software updates or shared network connections.
- Ripple Effect: An incident at one critical supplier can affect hundreds to thousands of end users simultaneously (e.g., SolarWinds or Kaseya).
- High Impact: The consequences range from large-scale data theft and ransomware to prolonged outages of critical business processes.
Below, we highlight some typical examples of recent incidents, analyze the impact on the parties involved, and look at how you can proactively monitor these risks.
