In today’s world of globalization and digitalization, we are all part of complex and ever-evolving supply chains. Some of these are very concrete, supplying goods, utilities, or services. Others, however, are less obvious, such as technological interdependencies on platforms like the cloud services we all use today to conduct our daily business operations. All these platforms are built on top of other platforms, frameworks, and libraries that, in turn, create a very complex network of supply chains. This puts us all at risk of supply chain attacks in many different forms.

We all have some things that are more critical to us than others. However, what is critical to me might differ greatly from what is critical to you. At the same time, looking at it from a broader perspective, we might very well even be part of the same supply chain.

From the viewpoint of an entire nation, all organizations contribute to societal stability. Thus, when facing threats, such as the will to destabilize society at large, we must collectively defend against them, as no single entity can protect the entire digital realm.

In the digital realm, it’s all for one and one for all

No government agency can defend us all. Yes, in the physical world, national defence has the ultimate responsibility of safeguarding society from external physical threats, such as military threats on land, at sea and in the air. But in the digital realm – cyberspace – no organization, big or small, governmental or private, can carry that weight for all of us. The supply chain is just too complex for anyone to fully comprehend and protect. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of all of us collectively to defend our part of the puzzle. We must ensure our ability to continue normal operations, even when faced with disinformation, espionage, or direct cyber-attacks against our services and underlying infrastructures.

As news reports show, supply chain attacks can have dramatic effects. They can involve intrusions into the IT environments of tens of thousands of organizations, injecting backdoors into software updates of tools commonly used to run our infrastructures, breaching a cloud service provider to access the information of all its tenants, or exploding pagers as part of a military operation against a loosely organized terrorist organization.

But what if it happens to us?

Ultimately, it’s a matter of risk management. We need to understand our dependencies on others in our respective operating environments. Both in the physical domain in terms of supply of goods and utilities like electricity and water, but also in the cyber domain in the form of availability, integrity and confidentiality of those information systems critical to our business operations. Ultimately, building resilience is about understanding that risk, preparing for disruptions, and planning and training how to operate when we lose control of some part of our critical supply chain.

DNV Cyber’s security operations strategy, “Security Fusion”, focuses on building integrated cybersecurity processes across our customers’ business ecosystems and supply chains. This approach ensures that when it is time for us to act quickly, decisively, and consistently across multiple organizations in a coordinated way, we have that ability. While technical cybersecurity is crucial in this strategy, cooperation and preparation are even more important.

From conflict to a cyber-resilient society

One essential form of national security cooperation is public-private partnerships, and Finland has a long tradition of collaboration between governmental and commercial entities to ensure societal resilience in times of crisis. This is also a strong part of our DNA as DNV

Cyber, so we found it only natural to share our experiences and insights with the production of the newly launched Finnish TV series “Conflict”.

The series portrays a fictional military and cyber-attack scenario against Finland, illustrating the fragility and interdependencies of society. In the series, DNV Cyber plays a role in mitigating the cybersecurity aspect of the conflict. Although fictional, it realistically depicts how a real-life crisis could unfold and evolve.

To sum up, the best thing we all can do is protect what is critical to us. This will ensure that we can continue contributing to society at large, also in times of uncertainty and even crisis. By safeguarding your critical, you help defend your nation. 

Conflict will be available on the Finnish TV channel MTV3 and streaming service MTV Katsomo starting Saturday, 30 November 2024. Find out more about DNV Cyber’s Detect & Respond service, or contact us to learn how our security solutions could benefit you. 

Author:
Jan Mickos, Managed Services Director, DNV Cyber

11/28/2024 9:43:00 AM