Introduction

Software supply chain attacks are rapidly becoming more problematic for global organizations, as the number of companies that depend on an interconnecting web of software packages continues to rise. As the threat continues to make itself known, more companies are trying to implement strategies and improve their internal security measures in order to limit the potential damage that attackers can cause. Despite this, it’s not always easy, and cybersecurity is a perpetual relay race between security professionals and hackers, with software supply chain attacks being one of the current legs of the race.

What are Software Supply Chain Attacks?

Software supply chain attacks happen when a would-be attacker manipulates the code of a software application, which allows them to hijack other applications further along the chain. This allows the attackers to either corrupt data in the network, steal important and valuable information, or gain entry to other parts of the network through a process known as lateral movement. Essentially, a software supply chain attack focuses on attacking the least secure part of the network, and seizing control from there – looking for the metaphorical chink in your armor.

What are the Best Methods to Prevent Attacks?

No security is completely faultless; you could follow every step correctly and you could still be vulnerable in some way. Even the world’s largest companies, with unimaginable resources such as Equifax have seen a severe breach, affecting more than 100 Million customers.

Given such scenarios, you want to limit your exposure as much as possible in order to minimize your chances of falling victim to software supply chain attacks. Below are some easy methods to help you improve your security:

Limit Your Use of External Software

Of course, as a modern business, you can’t be expected to do away with your entire software stack to avoid cyber attacks. However, you can cut out any software that isn’t essential or regularly used. This will help minimize the potential avenues available for a hacker to use to access your network and move laterally to other parts of it, which will in turn, help prevent any attacks.

Regularly Engage with Your Software Suppliers

This is a great way to keep up to date with the latest best practices from all of your suppliers. You will want to keep in contact with every single one of them and monitor their security situation so you can limit your own potential vulnerabilities. If you’re finding that a supplier’s response to your engagement is lacking, then you can consider the possibility of using a different vendor that places a higher priority on your security.

Keep Your Tools Up to Date

This may seem quite obvious, but if you’re using a large number of software packages in your business, you need to make sure you’re always updating them to the latest version. Failing to do this means that you will be working on old versions of your software, which will inevitably be much easier to breach as you won’t be downloading patches to deal with any vulnerabilities in the code. Furthermore, making sure everything is completely updated will also diminish the chances of technical issues unrelated to hacking.

Use Zero-Trust Authentication

Zero-trust authentication runs with the premise that all network activity is automatically deemed to be malicious. As a result, each user will need to go through a set of policy-driven authentication steps in order to gain access to the network. This is a very effective way of limiting the potential of software supply chain attacks as an attacker would need to get through to your authentication process in order to actually gain access to your network.

Examples of Software Supply Chain Attacks

There are numerous examples of software supply chain attacks in recent years, with the most well-known of these having large impacts on the organizations. Each of these cases provides us with a new opportunity to learn and implement new best practices for cybersecurity:

Mimecast

In 2021, the cloud cybersecurity company Mimecast announced that cyber criminals had compromised a certificate that they used to authenticate their services on Microsoft 365 Exchange Web Services. 10% of their user base relied on applications that needed the breached certificate, although they insisted the number of users affected was much smaller.

SolarWinds

In 2020, SolarWinds suffered a massive software supply chain attack, where 18,000 of their business customers, including multiple tech giants like Microsoft had downloaded a backdoor, which was hidden in the Orion IT Management app’s update tool. Microsoft themselves, in turn, had to notify 40 of their customers of the security breach.

Dependency Confusion

In 2021, a security professional named Alex Birsan managed to breach the systems of a number of tech giants such as Microsoft, Apple, Uber and Tesla through the use of a novel attack technique. Birsan sent fake packets of information to a large number of high-profile targets without the use of social engineering techniques.

Conclusion

In closing, you should now know more about what software supply chain attacks are and why they pose such a big risk to modern businesses. Furthermore, you’ve seen some examples of how even the largest companies with the biggest budgets for IT can be at risk with such attacks. The best way for you to protect yourself and your customers whose data you control is to make use of industry best practices and up-to-date tools to make the job easier for your security experts. Following these steps doesn’t make the chance of an attack 0%, but it makes it a lot smaller.

About Author

Kruti Chapaneri is an aspiring software engineer and tech writer with a strong interest in the intersection of technology and business. She is excited to use her writing skills to help businesses grow and succeed online in the competitive market. You can connect with her on Linkedin.

Inventory Software Simplifies the Process by Delegating It to Employees

Without modern inventory software, businesses often have to close for several days a year. Stocks are counted and documented for short periods of time instead of keeping track of inventory levels and consumables throughout the year. In times of remote work and cloud software, the classic, analogue inventory has fewer and fewer advantages.

Contemporary Inventory Management: App Instead of Slips of Paper

It is a laborious and inefficient process: the traditional filling out of paper lists during inventory to then manually transfer the collected data to Excel lists on the computer. It is no coincidence that for years we have been seeing more and more employees in warehouses and factory halls pointing a barcode scanner at packaging and equipment. Especially in production and trade, companies are increasingly turning to digital solutions.

However, it is not necessary to directly face all the challenges of Industry 4.0. Often, inventory software alone already brings about positive changes for the operational process. This is not only true for the retail and shipping sectors. Construction companies and service providers also benefit from digital inventory management. It provides a permanent overview of all vehicles, machines, IT equipment, furniture and consumables – from the warehouse to the remote workplaces to the workplaces of the employees.

It is worthwhile for companies of all sizes to distribute the inventory over several shoulders and to stretch it out over time. Inventory management software that runs on employees’ devices as well as on office computers organises this process – and prevents data loss due to hardware defects or short-term illness.

How Inventory Software Works: QR-Code for Object Identification

With inventory software, inventory officers can outsource parts of the process to employees. They know their equipment and vehicles. They often know better about raw material or machine parts than inventory assistants or external service providers.

An increasingly popular software for inventory management is Timly. The programme can be installed on the company’s own servers, but is usually purchased with secure cloud storage included. Company managers can activate access to the online inventory database for different employees. However, no user account is needed to enter inventory data, only an inventory invitation.

This is quickly sent in Timly, so that the inventory officer can fulfil his administrative role. Among other things, he or she can ask colleagues in the home office to enter their used company objects into the software or to confirm their continued use.

Generally, modern inventory programmes work with code labels on the inventory. In the past, these were often barcodes, but QR codes are becoming more and more popular. These can be easily scanned by smartphone and tablet, which takes you to the database entry of the inventory object. Depending on personal authorisation, information can be read or changed in this way.

Does Inventory Software Need Scanners and PCs?

Remote workers can be asked to scan their borrowed assets from home, not only for inventory purposes, but also to get an overview of the available company technology. This is possible without special hardware such as MDE devices; a common mobile device with a camera is sufficient.

But also warehouse workers, craftsmen or employees on assembly do not have to be equipped with MDE devices. For the inventory software, the normal company smartphone or work tablet equipped with the corresponding inventory app is sufficient.

Inventory software, such as Timly, ensures transparency in the company. Through a continuous inventory in real time, the administrative effort is reduced in total. In the end, this is worth money: having a centralised overview of the company inventory at all times reduces costs due to loss of materials and search efforts.

The compliance functions are also helpful: The integrated maintenance planner organises inspection intervals, maintenance documents and the scheduling of external service providers. Clear statistics on the age and performance of machines, vehicles, plants and equipment are generated.

A specialised, fee-based inventory software like Timly can be used flexibly and is adapted to the respective working environment and industry: User interface and database fields can be individually configured after purchase, and the competent inventory software team is available for additional software needs.

Better Than an Inventory Excel Template: Cloud-Based Software

Quite a few small and medium-sized companies still plan to store the data collected during inventory in Excel lists. They look for templates and hope that these will cover all the fields and topics that play a role in their everyday business. Unfortunately, inventorying with Excel quickly becomes confusing. Flexibility also suffers from a certain amount of data. In very large tables, employees easily look in the wrong cell and thus confuse dates, locations or status information.

With inventory software that works like Timly, on the other hand, you always know whether the target state of the inventory corresponds to the actual state. This transparency about inventory assets prevents equipment loss and downtime. Smart asset tracking software is key. The full overview of equipment, furniture and vehicles made possible by inventory software also includes being able, as a manager, to see which employees have already started their part of the inventory.

In the Timly Cloud, all inventory data is stored in such a way that authorised persons can access it from practically anywhere, instead of having to send and version an Excel spreadsheet.

Can Good Inventory Software Be Free?

Companies that have realised that an ordinary spreadsheet is not enough for stocktaking and perpetual inventory management are sometimes looking around for freeware stocktaking software. These do exist. They are usually bait offers where only rudimentary features can really be used “for free”.

Other free inventory programmes originate from the needs of individual companies and sectors and would have to be adapted at great expense to the needs of other companies. There are also numerous reports on efficient inventory software to be found on the internet.

Companies that prefer things to be uncomplicated and do not want to risk opportunity costs are better off opting directly for a fee-based solution where support and configuration are included in the scope of services. This type of software cost usually pays for itself after a short time which is why many businesses are already relying on innovative tools to help with their asset management.

Not only does employee satisfaction increase, but also occupational safety thanks to the maintenance planner functions that are included in comprehensive inventory software such as Timly.

How to Avoid Software Supply Chain Attacks in 2023