Globalisation, pressure to reduce costs and the need for greater efficiency of supply chain brings an increase in security risks, and with that, we must continually review security measures and respond to varying circumstances and threats.
Threats to supply chain can include both physical and cyber threats and can be from internal or external criminal attacks. Confidential business information such as financials, customer data, employee data is the most vulnerable to insider attacks.
A risk management approach should be applied to all aspects of the supply chain to fully understand the risks associated with your supply chain, which is the key to ensuring security measures and mitigations are proportionate, effective and responsive.
Through conducting audits and security risk assessments, assets that need to be protected need to be identified, possible threats, vulnerabilities and consequences need to be assessed.
It is vital that a holistic approach to supply chain security is undertaken, this includes site design and layout, physical security measures, security systems (access control, CCTV, intrusion detection), IT security, policies and procedures, training, emergency response readiness, power and fire protection, and an effective security guard force and response.
Physical security must be implemented correctly to prevent criminal attackers from gaining physical access to facilities and take assets or vital information.
Security is a fundamental part of any good business, incorporating it will assist in protecting your employees, operations, and assets.
Having effective facility security measures in place, help protect materials and products at each step of the supply chain (manufacturing, wholesalers, distributors, transport, etc).
Business continuity or disaster recovery plans should be kept up to date to reduce business interruption in times of natural disaster, emergencies or sabotage.
Many companies today are investing in their IT security, though it is clear that a multi-faceted approach is required to protect supply chains against a huge range of physical and cyber threats.