BlueVoyant Research Reveals Defending Digital Supply Chains Remains a Business Challenge

Study finds 98% of surveyed enterprises say they have been negatively impacted by a cybersecurity breach in their supply chain, an increase from 2021.

BlueVoyant, an industry-leading cyber defense company that combines internal and external cybersecurity, released the findings of its third annual global survey into supply chain cyber risk management. The study reveals that 98% of firms surveyed have been negatively impacted by a cybersecurity breach that occurred in their supply chain. This is up slightly from 97% of respondents last year. Digital supply chains are made of the external vendors and suppliers who have network access that could be compromised.

“The survey shows that supply chain cybersecurity risk has not decreased and, in fact, more enterprises than ever have reported being negatively impacted by a cybersecurity disturbance in their supply chain,” said Adam Bixler, BlueVoyant’s global head of supply chain defense. “The good news is that across industries and regions, organizations are making supply chain defense a priority, but these organizations need to better monitor suppliers and work with them to remediate issues to reduce their supply chain risk.”

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Other key survey findings include:

• 40% of respondents rely on the third-party vendor or supplier to ensure adequate security.
• In 2021, 53% of companies said they audited or reported on supplier security more than twice per year; that number has improved to 67% in 2022. These numbers include enterprises monitoring in real time.
• Budgets from supply chain defense are increasing, with 84% of respondents saying their budget has increased in the past 12 months.
• The top pain points reported are internal understanding across the enterprise that suppliers are part of their cybersecurity posture, meeting regulatory requirements, and working with suppliers to improve their security.

“While supply chain defense is a challenge, there are solutions for enterprises to better defend against this risk,” said James Rosenthal, BlueVoyant’s CEO and co-founder. “Enterprises should continuously monitor their supply chain to be able to quickly remediate threats. As companies are being negatively impacted by supply chain disturbances, they must prioritize this risk with the appropriate budget.”

The study was conducted by independent research organization, Opinion Matters, and recorded the views and experiences of 2,100 chief technology officers (CTOs), chief security officers (CSOs), chief operating officers (COOs), chief information officers (CIOs), chief info security officers (CISOs), and chief procurement officers (CPOs) responsible for supply chain and cyber risk management in organizations with more than 1,000 employees across a range of industries. These include: business services, financial services, healthcare and pharmaceutical, manufacturing, utilities and energy, and defense. It covered 11 countries: U.S., Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

The 2021 research was also conducted by Opinion Matters and recorded the views and experiences of 1,200 CTOs/CSOs/COOs/CIOs/CISOs/CPOs in similar enterprises and the same industries. It covered six countries: U.S., Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K., and Singapore.

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Analysis of the responses from different commercial sectors revealed considerable variations in their experiences of supply chain risk:

• While healthcare and pharmaceutical was the third-highest vertical in terms of experiencing greater board scrutiny for supply chain risk at 42%, the sector also indicates the lowest likelihood to increase budget for external resources to bolster supply chain cybersecurity, by a margin of 7% below the next closest vertical. This sector is also the least likely of any vertical (34%) to have no way of knowing if an issue arises with a third party’s environment.
• The energy sector was most likely to report negative impact from at least one supply chain breach in the last year (99%) but 49% are monitoring supply chain cyber risk regularly or in real time, and 44% are updating senior leadership monthly or more frequently. In addition, energy companies say they are increasing their budget for supply chain cyber risk by an average of 60%.
• In manufacturing, 64% of respondents say that supply chain cyber risk is on their radar and 44% say they have established an integrated enterprise risk management program.