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Roughly a third of corporate leaders have observed a marked rise in online breaches targeting their supply chains during the previous half-year, as high-profile security incidents on well-known companies have underscored this increasing risk to today's organizations.

Cyber threats rise concern rankings for procurement managers

Cybersecurity threats have climbed the hierarchy of priorities for procurement managers at multiple organizations globally across multiple sectors including production, utilities and IT, according to current industry research performed in early autumn.

High-profile security breaches lead to considerable financial losses

Latest digital intrusions at various major businesses have resulted in losses of millions of pounds, transitioning cyber resilience from being mostly the responsibility of digital security units to becoming a primary priority for executive leadership and company directors.

The nature of international commerce, the way we look at worldwide distribution systems and the technological supply environment are progressively linked,

stated a leading professional association head.

International considerations add to logistics worries

In the first half, procurement executives were especially worried about geopolitical instability, including persistent tensions in various parts of the world, along with trade policies that impacted worldwide business.

However, cyber threats are now competing with geopolitical shocks and commercial conflicts as the most significant risk for organizations of international trade associations.

Study reveals widespread impact

The research found that 29% of executives indicated that organizations within their supply chains had been compromised by digital attacks in recent months.

Substantial automotive consequences

An important car company experienced factory closures and was could not to build automobiles for a full month, following a cyber-attack that forced the business to shut down IT networks across several international locations.

The financial consequences of this 30-day factory closure at the United Kingdom's primary car manufacturer has been calculated at approximately 120 million pounds in lost profits, or 1.7 billion pounds in missed sales, according to academic analysis from a business economics expert.

Latest global incidents

During the autumn, a major Japanese brewing group became the most recent organization to be compelled to stop production at its home country facilities following a cyber-attack.

The company, which manages multiple production facilities in the Asian nation producing drinks and additional items, stated that its transaction handling functions, along with delivery systems and client support operations, had been interrupted following a technical failure triggered by the security breach.

Growing integration generates weaknesses

Businesses are increasingly supported by other organizations. No longer exist the era of viewing an organization as an entity operating in isolation.

Recent prominent security incidents have served as a clear warning to organizations to invest in robust online protection systems, to protect their internal functions and retain consumer trust, encouraging them to examine how their distribution systems could become potential objectives for hackers.