What is a Supply Chain Attack: Working, Types, Impact and Prevention

A Supply Chain is a series of activities in any company involved in handling, distributing, manufacturing and processing goods to complete the process of supplying any goods from any vendor to the consumer. Everything from the transportation of materials from the supplier to the producer to the final consumer is included in the supply chain.

A Supply Chain Attack is a cyber attack that targets the companies' weakest link in its supply chain. A supply chain attacks are indirect as they target third-party dependencies. A dependency could be any software supplied by other part to help with the organisations' functions. The attacker might add a malicious code to the software, which could be supplied to the vendors' clients.

How is Supply Chain Attack Carried Out?

A supply chain attack is carried out in a series of stages, with the attackers targeting third-party systems, applications, or tools that are part of the supply chain. These attacks are often indirect, as the attackers exploit vulnerabilities in vendors, service providers, or contractors who have access to the organization’s network or systems. Here’s a breakdown of how these attacks are carried out:

1. Gaining Access to Third-Party Systems

The first step in executing a supply chain attack is gaining access to third-party systems or networks. Attackers may target vendors, service providers, or any third-party that has direct or indirect access to the organization’s data or systems. This can be done in various ways:

• Phishing: Attackers may send phishing emails to employees or third-party vendors to steal login credentials or other sensitive information.
• Exploiting Vulnerabilities: Attackers can exploit known vulnerabilities in third-party software, applications, or hardware to gain unauthorized access.
• Social Engineering: Using deceptive tactics to manipulate employees or vendors into revealing access credentials or performing actions that help the attacker infiltrate the system.

2. Leveraging Breached Data

Once attackers gain access to a third-party system, they may use breached data to further their attack. This could involve:

• Accessing Sensitive Information: Attackers can use the data they obtain, such as login credentials or network configurations, to target the primary organization.
• Mapping the Organization's Network: By studying the breached data, attackers can learn about the network infrastructure, security policies, and even identify weak points in the system.

3. Maintaining Access

After initial access is gained, the attackers will often establish methods to maintain their access over time. This is important for long-term control of the compromised system. Methods include:

• Installing Backdoors: Attackers may install backdoors or remote access tools (RATs) that provide them with persistent access to the third-party system without being detected.
• Credential Harvesting: By monitoring traffic or interactions within the third-party system, attackers can gather more credentials to widen their access.

4. Delivering the Malware

Once attackers have maintained access, they can deliver malicious payloads to their targets through the supply chain. Common methods include:

• Infected Software Updates: Attackers may modify software updates or patches to include malware that is delivered when the victim installs the update.
• Compromised Applications: If the third-party system provides software or services, attackers can insert malicious code into these applications. When these applications are used by the target organization, the malware is activated.
• Supply Chain Tools: Attackers may also exploit tools or services used by both the third-party vendor and the organization, embedding malware in the software to spread through the organization once it is deployed.

5. Exploiting the Vulnerability

With the malware successfully delivered, attackers can now exploit the vulnerabilities they’ve set up. This may involve:

• Data Exfiltration: Stealing sensitive data, such as customer information, intellectual property, or confidential business information.
• Ransomware: Encrypting files or systems and demanding a ransom for the decryption key.
• System Control: Gaining control over the organization’s critical infrastructure, such as networks, servers, or IoT devices.

6. Achieving the Objective

Finally, after gaining control and exploiting the vulnerabilities, the attacker accomplishes their objective. This could be:

• Financial Gain: Stealing money, intellectual property, or conducting fraudulent transactions.
• Disruption: Disrupting the organization’s operations, causing financial loss or reputational damage.
• Espionage: Gathering sensitive data for competitive or political reasons.

Types of Supply Chain Attacks

These attacks target the software, hardware, and services provided by external partners, vendors, or suppliers. The different types of supply chain attacks include methods like JavaScript attacks, browser-based attacks, Magecart attacks, open-source attacks, and watering hole attacks. Each type exploits specific vulnerabilities in third-party systems and software, providing attackers with entry points to carry out malicious actions.

JavaScript attacks

JavaScript attacks make use of flaws in JavaScript code already in place or insert malicious scripts into websites that run automatically when a user loads them.

Browser-based attack

Attacks utilizing browsers inject harmful code into users' browsers. Attackers could target browser extensions or JavaScript libraries that cause programs on user devices to run automatically.

Magecart attacks

In Magecart attacks a malicious JavaScript code is used to steal credit card information from website checkout forms, which are frequently run by other parties.

Open-source attacks

Susceptibility in open-source code is exploited by open-source attacks. Organizations may speed up the development of applications and software by utilizing open-source code packages.

Watering hole attacks

Attacks known as watering hole locate websites that are often visited by lots of people. Attackers may employ a variety of strategies to find security holes in the website, then take advantage of those holes to infect unwary visitors with malware.

Impacts of a Supply Chain Attack

Supply chain attacks can have severe impact on organizations and their customers. These attacks can result in data breaches, financial losses, and loss of trust in the affected companies. In some cases, these attacks can even pose security risks to national infrastructure. Understanding the risks involved in a supply chain attack is critical to developing strategies to mitigate their impact and protect valuable assets.

Data Breaches

A successful supply chain attack could lead to loss of and an extensive amount of data, including sensitive information like customer data, business information, government documents, Intellectual property. They affect the organisation as well as the customers associated with it, amplifying the impact.

Financial Loss

Supply chain attack could slowdown the organisation causing a significant amount of revenue loss, and also the cost required to remediate the attack could cost a lot.

Loss of Trust

When the data is compromised in an organisation, the stakeholders including its customers, investors and suppliers, all develop a sense of distrust. Rebuilding this could be a challenging task that could restrict their deals and number of clients.

Security Risks

When critical organisations like power grids, water supplies or transportation systems are targeted by these attacks, it poses a threat to the national security of a nation and impact a huge chunk of population.

How to Defend Against Supply Chain Attack?

Preventing and defending against supply chain attacks requires a proactive approach. Various methods to safeguard against such attacks, includes adopting browser isolation, avoiding zero-day exploits, enabling patching and vulnerability detection, and implementing a zero-trust architecture.

Adopt browser isolation

To ensure that malware is found and eliminated before it can affect its intended target, browser isolation tools isolate, also known as sandboxing, webpage code prior to its execution on end-user devices.

Avoid zero-day exploits

Unpatched zero-day exploits are frequently used in supply chain attacks.

Enable patching and vulnerability detection

It is the commitment of organizations engaging third-party technologies to make sure those products are secure.

Adopt Zero Trust

This access guarantees that all users within an organization's network, including contractors, vendors, and employees are repeatedly validated and monitored.

Detect shadow IT

Shadow IT describes the programs and services that staff members employ without the IT department of their company's consent.

Employ malware protection

To stop harmful code from running, malware prevention tools such as antivirus software automatically search devices for it.

Also read: What is Supply Chain Security

Conclusion

Supply chain attacks present a significant and growing threat to organizations, as they exploit vulnerabilities in third-party vendors, software, and services that businesses rely on. These attacks can have impacts, ranging from data breaches and financial losses to loss of trust and national security risks. By understanding the various types of supply chain attacks, such as JavaScript attacks, Magecart attacks, and open-source vulnerabilities, organizations can better prepare for potential threats.

To defend against these attacks, a proactive approach is essential. Organizations should adopt practices like browser isolation, avoid zero-day exploits, enable patching and vulnerability detection, and implement a zero-trust security model. Regular employee training, monitoring for shadow IT, and employing malware protection tools further strengthen defense against such attacks. By taking these preventive steps, businesses can better protect their assets, maintain customer trust, and safeguard sensitive data from the growing risks of supply chain attacks.