Formulas for counteracting cyber threats in regards to computer products supply chains

Technological evolutions have brought truly meaningful benefits, but also new challenges for which suppliers of computer product supply chains have had to find solutions. Cyber-attacks are being conducted by teams of cybercriminals who are highly skilled in computer science. There have been many episodes where governments of some countries financially supported such an attack on a public company or institution. The cyber-attacks problem is not new, and the economic damage it can do is truly impactful. I’ve undergone an analysis of relevant literature in order to identify the key factors and the limitations that supply chains are facing when it comes to computer products. Following ample research, I’ve formulated the research questions which I believe to be essential in providing answers that can bring contributions to the field: “What are the main challenges that computer products supply chains are facing?”, and “In what way can we limit these attacks?”

The results of the analysis classify the challenges in three key dimensions: hijacking updates, undermining code signing, and destroying the free access code. These challenges can be diminished by different strategies of securing the supply chains. I have identified three essential ways to secure the computer products supply chains: risk management, vulnerability management, and practices for disclosing the identified vulnerabilities.

The results of the study show that the challenges to public or private organizations can be limited by having a good understanding of the framework behind a cyber attack, as well as close collaboration between the supplier and the customer.