Rebecca Bowman

In July, what is being called the “largest IT outage in history” grounded air cargo and travel and caused “substantial disruptions” to the networks of such supply chain giants as FedEx and UPS. While cybersecurity company CrowdStrike blamed the worldwide outage on a “software update” and not a cyberattack, the event illustrates the importance of taking measures to safeguard the supply chain systems we all rely on for the movement of goods and people. Cybersecurity is Paramount in Digital Supply Chain A Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report published in October 2023 said that “bad actors are using more sophisticated tools and techniques to exploit vulnerabilities in digital networks, and weak points can be difficult to detect. Companies with established cybersecurity capabilities are being compromised through less sophisticated third parties that are connected to their network.” Today’s Supply Chain Remains Vulnerable to Cyberattacks According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the number of organizations targeted by supply chain cyberattacks skyrocketed by 2,600% between 2018 and 2023. Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report said there was a 68% year-over-year leap in the amount of “supply chain interconnection” involved in cyber breaches. Among high-profile cyberattacks affecting the supply chain: In December 2020, Forward…

As Kelly Barner, host of Dial P for Procurement here on Supply Chain Now and host of The Sourcing Hero, says, “The volume of business content being created, shared and discussed every day can feel overwhelming, especially if you are trying to stay on top of best practices and make the most of your professional network. How we choose to spend our scarce listening and watching time is an important decision, and with many (many!) options, each content creator has to find a way to bring unique perspectives and value to their community.” Our CEO, Scott Luton, was recently invited to be Kelly’s guest on The Sourcing Hero podcast, and shares why it is just as important to understand a professional’s journey as it is to listen to their point of view on their area of expertise, the role of business media in helping individuals and teams deal with the challenges they face on a daily basis, and why we all need to look for and celebrate good news as often as we can. Listen to the Podcast Episode Here.