HKCERT Report "Understanding and Tackling Supply Chain Attack"

One of the five Potential Cyber Security Trends in 2018 named by HKCERT is Supply Chain Attack (see Press Release). For better defend our information assets, we should know more about it. Supply chain is moving resources from the producer into the hands of the final consumer involves creating systems that handle, distribute, and process goods using a complex network of suppliers and services. Supply Chain exists in any industry. Supply Chain Attack is that the cyber criminals try to exploit the supply chain through the third-party suppliers as they usually have some level of access to their customer’s network.

Supply chain attack could be divided into four forms: software update contamination, software library contamination, firmware contamination and waterhole attack. In 2017, there are cyber attacks making its way upstream of the supply chain to bypass the defences of enterprises. And in 2018, there will definitely be more supply chain attacks. In order to tackling such attack, we have to better control the supply chain partners by put third-party security management in place, require service providers to implement security measures in service provision and involve partners and contractors in company-side security awareness training.

HKCERT has prepared a report “Understanding and Tackling Supply Chain Attack” (English only) which explains Supply Chain Attack with recent attack cases as example, and provide the steps to tackle the threat.

For more information, please refer to: /my_url/en/guideline/18041201