The supply chain remains the weakest link in cybersecurity. In 2018 alone, attacks on supply chains spiked nearly 80% according to cyber researchers.

Once compromised, your supply chain will function poorly and inefficiently and negatively impact customer experience and your firm’s bottom line. This is why you should constantly reevaluate and rethink the security and transparency of your supply chain.

Current networks are now more complex and highly vulnerable due to the proliferation of internet-connected devices or the Internet of Things (IoT). Existing security solutions may not be strong enough to secure a modern, highly complex supply web.

Take the series of cyber attacks on Airbus’ supply chain networks, for example. Hackers used a stolen encryption key to hack the Virtual Private Networks (VPN) that Airbus shared with its supply chain partners. We can learn from this event that VPNs are vulnerable and data encryption alone cannot ensure supply chain data security and protection.

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Attacks like these can be prevented using a decentralized platform that helps regulate all supply chain actors and uses security approaches that are stronger than encryption.

Why turn to blockchain

Blockchain can help you radically improve the security and transparency of your supply chain. Walmart, for one, leverages blockchain to ensure that only “safe” produce are delivered to its store. Blockchain also helps the store quickly determine which produce to discard when an outbreak of a food-borne disease happens. Maersk, on the other hand, implemented blockchain to enable secure international shipping.

You can take your cue from these companies and use blockchain to radically improve your supply chain’s security and transparency. Blockchain can help you minimize the risks of dealing with unscrupulous or unqualified vendors.

Blockchain also allows you to take advantage of smart contracts and create an immutable, distributed record to ensure transparency across your supply chain network and facilitate information exchange.

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Blockchain provides each stakeholder with a copy of the record that is verified, transparent, and updated in real-time, preventing bad actors from stealing and compromising data. This also reduces paperwork exchanges and other manual methodologies that are costly and prone to errors.

Furthermore, blockchain makes it nearly impossible to compromise data. It does not merely encrypt but also hash data and store it in a node that is connected to a chain of blocks. Breaking this chain can be extremely difficult in that it requires high computing power.

The blockchain technology opens a lot of possibilities to conduct business without having expensive intermediaries. Big or small, the enterprises are testing the technology in a closed network to collaborate without involving third parties or intermediaries.

At Smart IMS, we are testing the blockchain concept in the field of Cybersecurity & IoT. If your organization deals with data or transactions of any kind (including Supply Chain), you are likely to be disrupted by blockchain, sooner or later. We understand your business and can guide you through weaving blockchain into your organizational fabric. Contact us.

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