"'Potentially Unsecured' SMBs Are Propping up an IT Supply Chain Riddled With Ransomware"
According to new research by Trend Micro, more than half of global organizations have had their supply chains impacted by potentially unsecured small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) falling victim to ransomware attacks. The threat has affected 52 percent of supply chains, and most of the organizations surveyed by Trend Micro believe that either their partners or customers, or both, make them a more attractive target for cybercriminals. The same proportion of organizations that were hit by ransomware attacks in their supply chains, also stated that those supply chains are significantly supported by SMBs, which may be prone to less secure cyber practices. However, Trend Micro discovered that organizations are hesitant to collaborate with their partners to improve supply chain security. According to Trend Micro's Bharat Mistry, 52 percent of global organizations have had a supply chain organization hit by ransomware, potentially putting their own systems at risk of compromise. Yet many are not taking steps to improve partner cybersecurity. The first step in mitigating these risks must be improved visibility and control over the growing digital attack surface. Of those surveyed, only 47 percent share information about ransomware attacks with partners or suppliers, which drops to 25 percent regarding general threat information. As a result, one in every six (15 percent) IT leaders said they could not tell if a partner or supplier had ever been hit by ransomware. For the past five years, ransomware has topped the list of cybersecurity threats to businesses, but according to Trend Micro, 31 percent of organizations still do not feel adequately protected against the threat. This article continues to discuss key findings from Trend Micro's latest report on the threat of ransomware from global supply chains.