Securing the cyber supply chain

Many parties touch your organization's systems and software, potentially exposing them to malware, breaches, or worse. A new end-to-end approach is required to minimize the risks.

Security pros draw a line at the firewall--what happens "out there" might be beyond their control, but a secure perimeter is intended to protect the data and systems within. That view, however, fails to take into account the role of developers, vendors, customers, users, and others along the supply chain of IT systems, hardware, and software coming into the enterprise. A new school of practice advocates a more encompassing approach to security that leaves none of those touch points unchecked.

It's called the cybersecurity supply chain, and, as it sounds, it applies the principles of supply chain management--product assembly and acquisition, data sharing among partners, governance, and more--to the security of IT systems and software. "Organizations need to realize that their borders are porous," says Jim Lewis, director and senior fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' technology and public policy program. "We're no longer living behind a moat. It's not just how secure you are, but how secure the people you connect with are as well."

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