Five Ways to Prevent Threat and Fraud in Your Supply Chain

No matter how you slice it, minimizing the impact of threats and fraud should be at the top of your corporate to-do list.

11:24 23 December 2020

Whether you are an established corporation with global reach such as Texas Instruments Incorporated or an up-and-coming electronics manufacturer looking to cement your reputation, the health of your supply chain is crucial. Numerous factors can compromise it, some of them having to do with problems with your internal policies and practices and others stemming from third-party partners and unknown hackers.

 

MAP YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN

 

Knowing the full extent of your supply chain helps you to determine where your vulnerabilities lie. That is why thorough mapping cannot be accomplished without taking not just first-tier partners into consideration but all of those second-, third- and nth-parties as well. In the end, you may have hundreds or even thousands of organizations in your network, all of which should be prioritized according to criticality. For your most essential partners, it’s important to assess the dangers they pose via their own self-reporting as well as through objective audits so that you can work with them to eliminate or reduce the threats that can lead to fraud and other types of breaches.

 

CREATE THREAT AND FRAUD-RELATED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

 

Your security measures are designed to deter, detect, protect against and stamp out theft and fraud. They should be bolstered by a set of strong, well-considered best practices and procedures to be distributed to all stakeholders. As part of these documents, include the consequences of violating security rules and any whistleblower programs you have put in place. By doing so, you just might deter a fraudster or encourage someone to come forward.

 

KEEP SYSTEMS UPDATED

 

Suppliers come and go, but sometimes IT and procurement teams are slow to register that fact in their records. Worse still, these companies often still have active user permissions that allow them to gain entrance into your digital perimeter. Make it a point to remove all terminated suppliers immediately from your active roles, including network permissions and other privileges.

 

USE DATA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

 

Modern analytics can be a helpful ally in detecting fraud or other types of breaches. Employ these tools and the data that already exists in your resource planning systems to run fraud tests. By so doing, you can pinpoint erroneous billing and other criminal behaviors that may be impacting your product quality or on-time delivery.

 

USE TECHNOLOGY TO PREVENT COUNTERFEITS

 

With so many suppliers in your complex network, it is difficult to detect when a tiny component is not authentic. However, today’s track-and-trace innovations, when combined with a highly visible supply chain, can help you to monitor the progress of goods from origin to endpoint, thereby reducing the chances that you will be the victim of fraud or counterfeit.

 

Safeguarding your systems and valuable products against threat and fraud has numerous benefits. Doing so helps to ensure compliance with industry standards and protects your brand and the electronics products you distribute. Most important, it safeguards your customers and leads to a healthier, more productive organization.