In today’s economy, no company operates in isolation. Businesses rely on networks of suppliers, vendors, and partners. And while those connections drive efficiency, they also introduce risk – when one link falters, the impact can ripple across entire industries.
Earlier this year, Marks & Spencer faced a ransomware attack that didn’t originate in its own systems but through a supplier. The fallout was immediate: payment systems went offline, logistics were disrupted, and the company absorbed an estimated £300 million hit to profits. Billions in market value disappeared within days.
Another example came from Oracle Cloud, where a vulnerability exposed millions of records and disrupted operations for thousands of organizations. What began as a single point of weakness quickly cascaded into a far-reaching problem that touched businesses well beyond the original breach.
These incidents highlight a critical truth: supply chain cyber risk is neither abstract nor hypothetical. It’s real, costly, and fast-moving, and represents a risk that essentially every business is exposed to. Even the strongest internal defenses can be undone by vulnerabilities elsewhere in the ecosystem.
For leaders, this changes the conversation. Cybersecurity can no longer be viewed only through the lens of internal systems but must extend to the broader network of relationships that keep operations running. That requires foresight, transparency, and clarity on where risks lie.
Resilience begins with visibility. Our new Vendor Risk Assessment is designed to help organizations uncover vulnerabilities across their supply chains and strengthen the links before they break. Learn more
