What are supply chain assaults and how can you prevent them?

In order to harm targeted firms, an IT supply chain attack targets the weakest links in their application supply chain. For instance, a Trojan horse could be introduced through software or a hardware component that is produced by a supplier.

Once within the network of the intended business, the Trojan pivots to spread laterally to infect further computers or to steal sensitive data from information systems by exploiting additional flaws. 

The less strict security controls that frequently apply within a company’s internal networks assist this lateral deployment. Learn how to prevent supply chain attacks below in this article;

Attack by solarwinds

The solarwinds assault is currently regarded as one of the worst instances of cyber espionage in history. 

Through the use of software distributed by solarwinds, a massive cyberattack in March 2020 that was orchestrated by a group with support from a foreign power predicted to be Russia infiltrated thousands of organizations, including numerous US government agencies, security firms, private parties, the European Parliament, and NATO, and resulted in significant security breaches.

Cybercriminals infiltrated solarwinds’ system and inserted malicious code, which was then accidentally distributed by solarwinds and installed as of software updates by all users of the product. 18,000 government and private users downloaded the corrupted version. This is the quintessential example of a supply chain attack.

Security company fireeye, which employed Orion software and determined that its red team computer attack simulation tools had been stolen, identified the compromise and made it public in December 2020.

Once on the network, the malware changed tactics to take advantage of other flaws and spread into internal corporate networks.

Although Microsoft, like any big manufacturer, has attempted to reduce the extent of the assault, Orion flaws are known to allow source code to be stolen from a number of corporate repositories. Microsoft has also been targeted. ‘Offensive. They will never truly understand the scope and impact of this attack, nor will anyone else.

What can we infer about this attack?

How did a Trojan manage to avoid detection after being planted on 18,000 delicate networks and operating nonstop for at least nine months, between March and December 2020?

Businesses and governmental organizations need to accept the fact that they are unaware of the security procedures used by their IT vendors. It’s amazing how this attack has affected Microsoft, vmware, and many other IT suppliers given how essential cloud services have become to the IT environment.

We should be aware of the solarwinds attack that our data need extremely high walls of protection.

Make careful to create your encryption keys, hold onto them, and make sure no one, not even your cloud provider, has access to or control over them. You may be sure that your data won’t be compromised in the event of a hack by securing it from outsiders.

Make ensuring your IT vendors use strict security measures in their supply chain as part of your vendor management program, such as by implementing an Open Trusted Technology Provider Standard (O-TTPS) accreditation.

Most importantly, you should always assume that your internal networks have been compromised. For your internal networks, don’t utilize less rigorous security measures. Use the zero-trust approach: Never rely; always make sure.