Hackers are notoriously lazy, despite what you may think. They like to aim for big wins with minimal effort. And the secret lies in the targets they pick. The ransomware as a service (RaaS) model is a classic example of them achieving peak cybercrime efficiency. Supply chain attacks were invented shortly after and grew in prevalence to the point of crippling infrastructures worldwide. Even former US President Joe Biden was surprised and ended up issuing an executive order to government entities, ordering a reformation of supply chain cybersecurity standards throughout the country.
But enough about that. What’s so unique about supply chain attacks? Why are they so dangerous? Why should you be concerned? How to prevent supply chain attacks? If you can’t answer these questions yet, keep reading. We’ll tell you soon.
What is a Supply Chain Attack?
A supply chain attack is a cybersecurity attack that looks for weaknesses in your supply chain. A supply chain mixes technologies, people, resources, products, users, and organizational activities. It holds your organization together, and these components keep your company moving.
When sudden disruptions in existing workflows occur or something damages your business, it can be a supply chain threat. Supply chain attacks probe for vulnerabilities in your supply chain and look for opportunities in vendors to exploit weak security postures. Vendors work with shared data, so if they get breached, the users and everyone associated with them are affected, too.
When your supply chain grows large, your network expands. So, if an attack occurs, multiple targets are created and compromised.
How Do Supply Chain Attacks Work?
Supply Chain Attacks work by tearing apart trusted relationships. Instead of directly targeting the company itself, they will target suppliers and vendors that an organization works with. Software-based supply chain attacks can inject malicious code into the latest libraries, updates, and components to compromise security certificates and building tools.
Hardware-based supply chain attacks can disrupt manufacturing and distribution processes by injecting malware or spying components. Some supply chain attacks may exploit vulnerabilities like weaknesses in build pipelines, access tokens, and hard-coded secrets. They may escalate privileges and attempt to cause lateral movements across networks.
The SolarWinds supply chain attack is a classic example of how these threats work. Attackers had gained access to a company’s build servers and injected a backdoor into its updates. Another case was how attackers had compromised a managed service provider and infected multiple organizations with ransomware.
How to Detect Supply Chain Attacks?
You can’t detect supply chain attacks using just one method or technology. Organizations will have to combine different approaches and use the latest AI threat detection techniques to successfully enhance their ability to detect and mitigate these types of threats.
They must use continuous monitoring, global threat intelligence, and a proactive security posture, all critical elements in defending against supply chain attacks.
Gaining real-time visibility into networks, continuous network traffic monitoring, and letting security teams have the facilities needed to respond promptly to these incidents and any other suspicious activities are critical.
Here are some ways you can detect supply chain attacks:
Some attacks can exploit flaws in dependency management. Attackers can register packages with names identical to or similar to internal modules but with higher version numbers. When developers unknowingly pull these external packages, the malicious code is introduced into the software. Even routine package management can be a weak link if external repositories aren’t carefully controlled and monitored.
Attackers can obtain private keys used for code signing. They could digitally sign malicious software with these keys, making it appear trustworthy. This erodes the assurance provided by traditional signing certificates. Trust mechanisms, such as code signing certificates, are only as secure as the processes protecting their private keys.
Modern network detection and response (NDR) systems can monitor for deviations from normal behavior. Machine learning models can learn typical data flows in your network. Sudden changes—even if the traffic is encrypted—should trigger alerts. You can use hardware security modules (HSMs) or similar solutions to protect private keys. Beyond these, start conducting regular security reviews and audits. Conduct drills simulating supply chain attacks and ensure your team can rapidly respond to and detect such incidents.
Best Practices to Prevent Supply Chain Attacks
You can master how to prevent supply chain attacks by implementing the following tactics:
Start Using Honey Tokens
These work like tripwires and alert organizations of any suspicious activities across networks Honey Tokens are fake resources that pose sensitive data Attackers might think they are genuine targets and interact with them Whenever something happens, the Honey Token will trigger alerts about a suspected attack attempt It gives organizations warnings of data breaches and reveals to them the details of these attackers and their breaching methods.
Secure Privileged Access Management
Cyber attackers tend to move laterally across networks after they gain privileged access to their accounts. They will attempt to escalate privileges and gain access to more sensitive resources. This attack pathway is also referred to as a privileged pathway. It’s a typical attack trajectory. You can use a privileged access management framework to disrupt this attack pattern and mitigate the chances of another threat. It can help secure both your internal and external defenses. Apply granular access control policies and test the vendor you work with. Update your company’s inventory, asset management practices and policies, and perform security updates and upgrades. You should also consider using endpoint security tools like SentinelOne Singularity™ Endpoint to protect against supply chain infections. It can prevent an attack from spreading onto other areas of the network, quarantine it, and contain it. If you want to extend your endpoint protection, consider using Singularity™ XDR. Combine it with SentinelOne’s 24/7 Vigilance MDR service to get access to human expertise on top of security tech automation.
Educate Your Staff
Your organization’s employees and staff members are the primary targets when it comes to supply chain threats. They should know how malicious code injections work and be wary of the latest scam emails and phishing attempts. Threat actors will send them emails that appear to come from trusted colleagues and ask them to activate malicious code or attempt to steal internal login IDs. If staff members are educated about standard attack methods, including social engineering techniques, they can successfully identify and report these breaches. They won’t fall for them and will know precisely how to act or deal with these threats.
Use an Identity Access Management (IAM) Solution
You should encrypt all internal data and use standards like the Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm to make it difficult for criminals to create backdoors to exfiltrate data during supply chain attack events. The United States government also uses the AES encryption technique to protect itself. You should also focus on implementing a zero-trust architecture and assume all network activities are malicious by default. Trust nobody, verify everyone. Every connection request must pass through a list of strict policies. And your policy engine should decide whether network traffic should be permitted to pass. It should make it go through all the rules the trust algorithm sets. And the policy administrator will be responsible for communicating their decisions and changes.
Adopting an assume breach mindset naturally is also equally important. In this case, you will think a breach has happened and act accordingly. It will help you deploy active cyber defense strategies across all vulnerable attack vectors. The three attack back surfaces with the highest risk of compromise are processes, people, and technologies. Good cyber awareness training is one of the foundational pillars of protecting and fighting against supply chain attacks.
Real-World Examples of Supply Chain Attacks
Here are some real-world examples of supply chain attacks to learn from:
1. Target’s Data Breach
Do you remember the American supermarket chain Target? Customers’ credit card details were stolen during a data breach around 2013. Even though it was ages ago, Target became one of the world’s most notorious examples of supply chain attacks.
What happened? Malware was implanted on Target systems.
How did it get in? Through their HVAC supplier, Fazio Mechanical Services.
The result? $18.5 million in settlement claims, theft of 40 million credit and debit card details, and substantial reputational damages.
2. The CCleaner 2017 Hack
Hackers went straight for their servers and replaced the original software with malicious copies. The code was released to 2.3 million users who downloaded and installed file updates. They didn’t know and were severely infected.
What could have been done? CCleaner could have prevented the issue from escalating by simply releasing a patch fix before this happened. A similar incident occurred with WannaCry ransomware, where a patch was released before the attack but wasn’t applied to all end users on time.
Mitigate Supply Chain Attacks with SentinelOne
SentinelOne’s Offensive Security Engine™ with Verified Exploit Paths™ can predict attacks before they happen. SentinelOne delivers comprehensive security solutions that automatically detect, prevent, and respond to supply chain attacks. It offers unparalleled visibility into potential attack vectors and identifies vulnerabilities before hackers can exploit them.
The platform’s one-click threat remediation automatically addresses critical vulnerabilities and allows security teams to neutralize threats instantly. SentinelOne’s patented Storylines™ technology correlates events and connects them into comprehensive attack narratives, giving security teams complete visibility into entire attack chains.
SentinelOne’s threat intelligence constantly updates your defenses against emerging threats, ensuring you stay protected against the latest attack techniques.
Purple AI, that is SentinelOne’s Gen-AI cybersecurity analyst, can give real-time security insights and recommendations. SentinelOne can fight against zero-day ransomware, malware, phishing, shadow ID attacks, and insider threats. Its agentless CNAPP offers holistic security by bringing various security features under one umbrella, such as Cloud Security Posture Management, Kubernetes Security Posture Management, Cloud Detection and Response, SaaS Security Posture Management, Vulnerability Management, External Attack and Surface Management, Secrets Detection, and much more.
Conclusion
Supply chain attacks are among the most significant security threats organizations cannot overlook. By following the steps in this article – from deploying honey tokens and privileged access hardening to employee training and zero-trust architecture – you can minimize your exposure to these advanced attacks.
Supply chain security must be proactive because attackers consistently devise new methods. Regularly scanning your entire supply chain for vulnerabilities, with up-to-date security controls and new security solutions like SentinelOne, will prevent your company from being the next headline breach.
FAQs
What are the Types of Supply Chain Attacks?
Supply chain attacks can come in an infinite number of different types. Software-based attacks introduce malicious code into legitimate updates or software. Hardware-based attacks take advantage of hardware during production. Third-party attacks target vendors who have access to your systems. Code signing attacks use forged digital signatures to make malware look legitimate. Each one takes advantage of different vulnerabilities in your supply chain and needs different security measures to fix them.
How do cybercriminals exploit supply chain vulnerabilities?
Breach attackers find the weakest link in your supply chain, often smaller suppliers who are less secure. They attack these suppliers and then leverage their legitimate access to access primary targets. They can interfere with software updates, insert backdoors into development environments, or steal credentials of third-party service providers. Once inside, they begin moving laterally, elevating privileges to the level of valuable assets or deploying ransomware.
How do organisations detect early supply chain threats?
Track network traffic for suspicious patterns. Implement behavioral analytics to detect suspicious patterns from typical operations. Periodically audit vendors’ security processes and incorporate explicit security requirements. Implement advanced endpoint detection software on your network. Use artificial intelligence systems to scan for potential threats in real time. Check the integrity of software updates before installation. Implement a security operations center with 24/7 monitoring.
What is done if a supply chain violation is found?
Isolate compromised systems immediately to prevent lateral movement. Activate your incident response team to identify the scope of the breach. Identify the attack vector and affected supply chain component. Notify affected vendors and customers as required by regulations. Preserve forensic evidence for analysis. Apply countermeasures to stop similar attacks. Restore systems from known clean backups. Update and adjust security policies based on lessons learned.
How to React to a Supply Chain Attack?
First, quarantine the breach by isolating affected systems. Locate the point of compromise within your supply chain. Work with security experts to remove malicious code. Notify stakeholders according to compliance requirements. Restore systems online from clean backups. Document the incident in detail. Implement more substantial verification procedures for vendors. Consider implementing security ratings for suppliers. Review contracts to add more substantial security requirements.
Why are Supply Chain Attacks dangerous?
Supply chain attacks take advantage of trust relationships between parties and are hard to find. They can impact thousands of companies from one breach. They evade normal security controls by coming in via trusted avenues. They have a high dwell time before being detected. The complexity of today’s supply chains provides attackers with many potential entry points. Multiple victims are accessed by attackers via a single successful incursion, with maximum damage and minimal effort.