Supply Chain Cyber Risks Grow as Digital Blind Spots Expose Critical Operations

Global supply chains are becoming increasingly digital, but greater connectivity is also expanding the number of potential entry points for cyberattacks.

Companies across manufacturing, logistics, energy, and other industries are adopting artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, cloud platforms, and connected operational technologies to improve efficiency and manage disruption. However, the growing number of digital dependencies can also create vulnerabilities that are difficult for organizations to identify, particularly when systems extend across multiple suppliers and technology providers.

The challenge is increasingly becoming a supply chain management issue rather than solely an information technology problem.

Research and recent cyber incidents suggest that businesses often have limited visibility over the security of their wider supplier networks, even when those suppliers have access to sensitive data or critical operational systems.

Martin Rode, Senior Consultant at engineering and management consultancy NIRAS, told Supply Chain Digital that many supply chain disruptions originate from vulnerabilities that had not previously been identified. These can include dependence on a single supplier, limited visibility beyond first-tier partners, or the concentration of essential operations in one geographic area.

As companies deploy more digital systems to improve supply chain visibility and forecasting, identifying those dependencies is becoming more important.

Airport Breach Illustrates Exposure of Interconnected Infrastructure

A recent cyberattack involving Manchester Airports Group, or MAG, demonstrated the scale of information that can be exposed through large transport networks.

MAG, which operates Manchester Airport, London Stansted Airport and East Midlands Airport, reported in August 2026 that an unauthorized third party had accessed data relating to approximately 8.7 million customers.

The compromised information included email addresses, telephone numbers, vehicle registrations and postcodes associated with airport Wi-Fi registrations and services including parking, lounges and Fast Track bookings. MAG said that neither its systems nor the affected system contained customers' bank or payment details. It also said passenger safety, aviation security and airport operations were not affected.

The incident nevertheless demonstrates the data exposure created by highly integrated infrastructure.

Airports depend on interconnected networks involving airlines, logistics providers, passenger services, technology companies, security providers, ground handling operations and numerous other contractors. A vulnerability affecting one part of this ecosystem can potentially create risks beyond the organization where the initial breach occurs.

Thomas Barrett, Partner at law firm Weightmans, argued that organizations therefore need to treat cybersecurity as a standing business risk, particularly in transport and logistics. According to Barrett, companies need plans covering decision-making, containment, regulatory notifications, customer communications and the restoration of essential operations when preventative defenses fail.

Third-Party Breaches Create Increasingly Large Impacts

The broader data indicates that third-party cyber risk is becoming increasingly significant.

Black Kite's 2026 Third-Party Breach Report analyzed 136 verified third-party breach events during 2025. Those incidents affected 719 publicly identified companies.

The research calculated that each compromised vendor resulted in an average of 5.28 publicly named downstream organizations being affected, the highest multiplier recorded by Black Kite to date. The company also estimated that approximately 26,000 additional organizations may have been affected in incidents where vendors disclosed the number of customers involved without identifying them individually.

SecurityScorecard has identified a similar visibility problem. Its 2026 Supply Chain Cybersecurity Trends Report found that 78% of surveyed organizations said their internal cybersecurity programs covered less than half of their overall vendor ecosystems, including third, fourth, and fifth parties. Meanwhile, 55% continued to rely on manual methods such as telephone calls, meetings, or emails when coordinating with suppliers during cyber incidents.

These findings suggest that companies may have strong internal cybersecurity controls while remaining exposed through technology vendors, contractors, and other external dependencies.

The World Economic Forum's Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 found that 65% of large companies identified third-party and supply chain vulnerabilities as one of their greatest challenges to cyber resilience, up from 54% in the previous year.

The report also identified limited visibility as a particularly important supply chain risk for sectors including energy, manufacturing, transportation, materials and infrastructure.

Manufacturing Disruption Can Spread Beyond the Targeted Company

Cyber incidents can also create significant physical and financial consequences when digital systems are connected directly to manufacturing.

The 2025 cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover demonstrated how quickly disruption can spread through an industrial supply chain. JLR temporarily shut down manufacturing systems following the incident and subsequently carried out a controlled restart of operations.

Production disruption affected not only the automaker but also suppliers dependent on JLR orders and payments. The company later reported £196 million in exceptional direct costs associated with responding to the cyberattack, while reporting indicated that the wider disruption affected companies throughout its supplier network.

The incident highlighted a growing challenge for digitally integrated manufacturing.

Systems controlling procurement, payments, inventory, production schedules, logistics and equipment increasingly operate as part of interconnected digital environments. Cyber disruption affecting these systems can therefore translate rapidly into factory stoppages, delayed deliveries and financial pressure on suppliers.

For companies pursuing electrification, renewable energy deployment and industrial decarbonization, this type of operational resilience is particularly relevant. Many transition technologies depend on complex international supply chains for batteries, semiconductors, power electronics, renewable energy equipment and critical minerals.

Cyber vulnerabilities affecting logistics platforms, manufacturing systems or key technology providers could delay projects and create additional costs even when physical supplies remain available.

Cyber Resilience is Becoming Part of Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Digital security is therefore increasingly connected with broader sustainability and resilience strategies.

Companies investing in supply chain digitalization need to understand not only whether technologies improve efficiency, but also what operational dependencies those technologies create.

This can include identifying which suppliers host critical information, which third-party applications connect directly to operational systems, and which digital platforms are shared across multiple business functions.

Organizations also need visibility beyond their immediate suppliers.

UK government research published in its Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/26 found that only 15% of businesses formally reviewed cybersecurity risks associated with their immediate suppliers, while just 6% reviewed risks across their wider supply chains. The figure increased among larger companies, with 48% of large businesses reviewing risks associated with immediate suppliers.

Regulators are also paying greater attention to the issue.

In February 2026, the European Union's NIS Cooperation Group adopted an ICT Supply Chain Security Toolbox designed to provide a common approach for identifying, assessing and mitigating cybersecurity risks across technology supply chains. The framework includes measures addressing dependence on potentially high-risk suppliers.

For businesses, practical measures can include stronger vendor assessments, continuous monitoring of third-party risks, mapping critical digital dependencies, restricting supplier access to sensitive systems, and regularly testing incident response scenarios.

Organizations can also assess concentration risk by identifying technology providers whose failure could simultaneously affect multiple business functions or suppliers.

Digital tools remain important for improving efficiency, transparency, and emissions management across global value chains. However, increasing connectivity without understanding the associated dependencies can create new forms of operational risk.

As supply chains become more automated and data-driven, cybersecurity is becoming another component of resilience. For companies managing critical infrastructure, industrial operations, and net-zero transition projects, protecting the digital supply chain may increasingly be as important as securing the physical one.

Source: supplychaindigital.com