This Week on Supply Chain Now: September 26th – October 2nd

The resiliency of the supply chain has been tested time and time again — strained by weather-related events like hurricanes, global crises such as COVID-19, disasters like the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, and security breaches from cyberattacks. Supply chain resilience will continue to be tested. In fact, a major supply chain crisis could be just days away as the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) could stage a strike at ports all along the East and Gulf coasts of the United States as soon as Oct. 1. Beyond the Buzz: What is Supply Chain Resilience? “Supply chain resilience refers to the ability of a supply chain to prepare for unexpected events, adapt to disruptions, and recover quickly to restore its normal service levels,” Inbound Logistics said. “It’s not merely about preventing disruptions but being able to turn challenges into opportunities for growth and improvement.” Supply Chain Dive said because of events like COVID-19, the Panama drought, and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, supply chain disruptions have become “part of the public’s consciousness and everyday nomenclature.” “The risk in our global economy is that supply chain disruptions are guaranteed to continue, but no forecast exists to tell us when or how…

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…