After hack, officials draw attention to supply chain threats

  U.S. government is working to draw attention to supply chain vulnerabilities, an issue that received particular attention late last year after suspected Russian hackers gained access to federal agencies and private corporations by sneaking malicious code into widely used software.

National Counterintelligence and Security Center warned Thursday that foreign hackers are increasingly targeting vendors and suppliers that work with government to compromise ir products in an effort to steal intellectual property and carry out espionage. NCSC said it is working with or agencies, including Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to raise awareness of supply chain issue.

April marks what government is describing as fourth annual National Supply Chain Integrity Month. This year's event comes as federal officials deal with aftermath of SolarWinds intrusion , in which hackers compromised software supply chain through malware. At least nine federal agencies were hacked , along with dozens of private-sector companies.

NCSC said it plans to issue guidance throughout month about how specific sectors, like health care and energy, can protect mselves.

“If Covid-19 pandemic and resulting product shortages were not a sufficient wake-up call, recent software supply chain attacks on U.S. industry and government should serve as a resounding call to action," NCSC acting director Michael Orlando said in a statement. “We must enhance resilience, diversity, and security of our supply chains. vitality of our nation depends on it.”

Orlando and officials from United Kingdom, Cana and Australia are participating next week in a Harvard University discussion about protecting international supply chain.

sheer number of steps in a product's supply chain process gives a hacker looking to infiltrate businesses, agencies and infrastructure numerous points of entry and can mean no company or executive bears sole responsibility for protecting an entire industry supply chain. That's why officials recommend that supply chains be diversified, that essential assets be identified and protected and that specific senior executives be assigned to deal with concern.

Perhaps best-known supply chain intrusion before SolarWinds is NotPetya attack , in which malicious code found to have been planted by Russian military hackers was unleashed through an automatic update of Ukrainian tax preparation software, called MeDoc.

(Image credit: AP)