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Almost a third of corporate leaders have observed a noticeable rise in digital intrusions targeting their supply chains during the past six months, as recently reported digital attacks on prominent businesses have emphasized this increasing danger to modern businesses.

Digital risks move up concern rankings for supply chain executives

Online protection issues have climbed the hierarchy of concerns for procurement managers at hundreds businesses globally across diverse industries including manufacturing, utilities and IT, according to latest industry research conducted in September.

Prominent cyber incidents cause substantial monetary impacts

Current cyber attacks at various major companies have cost them substantial sums of currency, moving online protection from being mainly the concern of IT departments to becoming a significant concern for senior management and senior leaders.

The character of international commerce, the manner in which we consider global supply chains and the online distribution framework are increasingly interconnected,

remarked a senior professional association head.

Global elements add to supply chain anxieties

In the first half, procurement executives were especially worried about international tensions, including continuing tensions in various regions, along with international tariff measures that impacted worldwide business.

However, online attacks are now competing with global tensions and commercial conflicts as the main threat for organizations of global business groups.

Research reveals extensive impact

The study revealed that almost one-third of managers reported that businesses within their supply chains had been attacked by digital attacks in the past few months.

Substantial car manufacturing impact

An important automotive manufacturer experienced manufacturing stoppages and was could not to manufacture cars for four weeks, following a digital breach that forced the business to turn off IT networks across various global facilities.

The monetary effect of this four-week factory closure at the UK's biggest vehicle producer has been estimated at approximately £120 million in foregone income, or 1.7 billion pounds in foregone income, according to expert assessment from a business economics expert.

Latest global incidents

In late September, a well-known Asian beverage company became the newest corporation to be required to stop production at its local plants following a cyber-attack.

The company, which maintains multiple industrial sites in Japan producing beer and various goods, reported that its sales management systems, along with distribution activities and call center operations, had been interrupted following a network disruption resulting from the cyber-attack.

Expanding interconnectedness produces risks

Companies are more and more assisted by external entities. Gone are the era of considering an organization as an unit functioning in separation.

Recent high-profile security incidents have functioned as a strong reminder to organizations to allocate resources to robust online protection systems, to protect their internal functions and preserve customer confidence, encouraging them to investigate how their distribution systems could become possible objectives for hackers.