Supply chain management software

Supply chain automation and the use of associated software can increase both the amount of data that you share and the number of other companies that you share it with.

If you don't take measures to protect your data and systems, including those you share with other businesses in the supply chain, it may be easy for:

• employees to give away sensitive information
• partners to steal information or commit fraud
• external parties to gain access to confidential data

Internal risks in the supply chain

Most security risks come from within the organisation. It is, therefore, necessary to control, limit, monitor and manage your employees' access to your internal systems. This control can be:

• physical, eg stopping a member of staff from accessing a computer system kept in a locked office
• logical, eg where the system software is password-protected

Your business' security policy should specify the various levels of control, and how you manage them. Procedures and processes should ensure you:

• give users the level of access appropriate to their role
• alter or terminate access rights if the user changes roles or leaves the business

Find out more about cyber security risk management.

Partner risks in the supply chain

Traditionally, people do business with companies that they know and trust. However, once supply chain automation is in place, it becomes easier to do business with new partners that you don't know, adding to existing security risks.

You need to ensure that transactions with your partners - eg payments and transfers of business-critical documents such as orders and invoices - are secure and authenticated to protect against theft and misuse.

Password-protect any commercially-sensitive information that you share, and use non-disclosure agreements to reduce the risk of partners passing on this information.

External risks in the supply chain

As a digital product, your supply chain management software will be vulnerable to cyber risks. A breach of security could lead to customers leaving you or refusing to use supply chain software. Anti-virus software, firewalls, intrusion detection devices and traffic pattern monitoring will help you create an online trading environment that is as secure as possible.

Further guidance on supply chain security

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) proposes a series of 12 principles, designed to help you establish effective control and oversight of your supply chain. Implementing these principles may take time, but it will improve your overall resilience, reduce the number of business disruptions you suffer and the damage they cause. Read the NCSC's supply chain security guidance.