Protecting Your Business’ Supply Chain from Cyber Threats

Why Your Supply Chain is a Cyber Target 

Every business, no matter its size, is now part of a broader digital ecosystem which makes them a target. That means a SME’s attack surface doesn’t end at their firewall — it extends to every partner they rely on. And that’s why globally, supply chain cyber attacks have surged 431% between 2021 and 2023; and in 2024, nearly half of organizations worldwide suffered a third-party cyber incident.  

The risks are far from hypothetical. Disruptions like the CrowdStrike outage show how a breach at a third-party cloud provider can ripple across countless businesses worldwide, halting operations, draining revenue and damaging reputations. 

In the past year alone, major brands like Ticketmaster, AT&T, Giant Tiger and London Drugs have all been hit cyber attacks linked to third-party vendors. In Canada, over half of supplier-related cyber attacks resulted in lost revenue. Today, small businesses can expect to pay between $120,000 to $1,24 million to resolve a cyber security incident. 

Financial fraud and digital scams are also on the rise — with invoice fraud and Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes increasingly targeting small businesses through trusted vendor relationships. Adding to the risk, AI-driven scams now use voice-cloning and deepfakes to convincingly impersonate external partners, creating a level of deception that businesses can’t afford to ignore. 

“The fallout from a third-party breach goes far beyond financial loss — from stolen data and business downtime to reputational damage and legal penalties,” says Jack Brooks, Head of BOXX Hackbusters® and vCISO. “For small businesses, which often lack the resources to recover quickly, a breached supply chain can bring their entire operation to a standstill. 

“That’s why businesses need real-time visibility into their digital ecosystems, including external partners,” Brooks says.  

Protecting your Cyber Supply Chain with Attack Surface Management & Dark Web Monitoring 

“Most businesses have limited visibility into their supply chain’s cyber hygiene,” Jardine explains. “You might be doing all the right things — but are they?” 

Your attack surface includes everything connected to your business that hackers can find and exploit — hardware, software, cloud infrastructure, SaaS platforms and even unmanaged or inherited systems. That also includes assets outside your firewall, like shadow IT, rogue devices, forgotten systems and every third-party vendor you trust with data access, cloud tools or payments. 

Even a small vendor can lead to a major breach. The infamous Target breach, which exposed the data of 110 million customers, was traced back to a single HVAC supplier. 

Billions of data sets are exposed online each day — and they’re invisible to most endpoint protection tools, Brooks adds.  

Attack Surface Management (ASM) and Dark Web Monitoring are a frontline defence against both broad-scale industry attacks and targeted threats to your business. 

“With proactive ASM, we help businesses spot and fix blind spots before hackers can exploit them — from outdated software and forgotten devices to inherited systems and third-party vulnerabilities,” explains Brooks. 

Dark Web Monitoring adds another layer of protection by actively scanning hacker chatter for signs of exposure. “We’re constantly monitoring what threat actors are saying and sharing — not just about your business, but about your entire supply chain,” he adds. “That gives you real-time alerts, risk scoring across your supply chain, and expert advice on how to shut down risks before they turn into incidents.” 

“Supply chain ASM is a capability that leading-edge cyber insurers are beginning to explore — and where BOXX leads the pack,” says Jardine. “We don’t just insure against these risks, we help businesses monitor and manage them in real-time.” 

How Cyber Insurance Helps You Manage Supply Chain Risk 

Despite growing awareness, only one in four Canadian businesses have cyber insurance, and 15% still lack a formal incident response plan. Nearly half of those who do have coverage only bought insurance after experiencing an attack. 

When considering an insurance provider, businesses should look for key cyber insurance features that protect their supply chain, combined with embedded support services that help mitigate third-party risks.

Traditional insurance models react after a breach. BOXX’s approach starts before it ever happens. 

In the last 12 months, BOXX successfully resolved over 80% of customers’ reported cyber incidents without the need to file a claim.  

“We’ve always believed that prevention is better than loss,” Jardine says. 

BOXX’s all-in-one cyber insurance and protection is built to help small businesses protect their supply chains: 

• Predict & Prevent risks with embedded ASM and dark web monitoring services, proactive support and real-time alerts. 
• Respond & Recover through 24/7 access to Hackbusters breach response experts, forensics, legal and reputational support. 
• Insure with BOXX’s comprehensive cyber coverage for:
  • Third-party liability from vendor-related incidents.
  • Business interruption losses.
  • Legal, regulatory and notification costs.
  • Reputational damages. Recovering from a phishing scam can cost small businesses about $70,000 – from lost productivity to customer mistrust.
  • Social engineering and deception-based threats like BEC and invoice fraud. 

Smart Steps to Protect Your Business 

• Know your vendors: 85% of small businesses outsource IT, but only 40% verify vendor security. Audit who has access to your systems and data. 
• Limit access: Only give vendors what they need. Include cyber clauses in contracts and monitor compliance.  
• Add a vCISO: Only half of Canadian small businesses have basic cyber security and just as many lack a set budget. For those without in-house security teams, BOXX’s vCISO support turns alerts into clear action plans, adding a cyber security expert to your team at a fraction of the cost. 
• Monitor what hackers can see: 70% of organizations have unknown or neglected internetfacing assets. Leverage ASM and dark web monitoring tools to help you spot and close these exposures and gaps. 
• Encrypt and back up: 42% of small businesses store sensitive data on cloud platforms without encryption, escalating risk. “Always encrypt and back up your backups,” Brooks advises. 
• Plan and train: Develop clear playbooks for incident response, business continuity, ransomware, fraud and disaster recovery. Train your team and your vendors with regular phishing simulations. Human error caused 95% of breaches in 2024 — and with 27,000 breaches annually in Canada (almost 75 per day), it’s no small risk. “Cyber risk doesn’t stop at your firewall — it extends to every vendor and employee,” Brooks emphasizes. “It’s not just up to your IT team anymore. Everyone – from finance to operations to partners – needs to know what to look for.” 

A Smarter Way to Stay Secure 

Cyber criminals are no longer knocking at the front door. They’re slipping in through your vendors, partners and third-party providers. 

In the past year alone, more than half of Canadian businesses fell victim to cyber events tied to their supply chains — and the trend isn’t slowing down. 

Securing your business today means looking beyond your own perimeter. Every partner you connect with becomes part of your digital ecosystem — and part of your exposure. 

That’s why BOXX takes a prevention-first approach, combining cyber insurance, real-time monitoring, breach response and expert support into an all-in-one powerful solution. From ASM that extends into your supply chain, to dark web monitoring and 24/7 incident response, BOXX helps Canadian small businesses build real cyber resilience. 

“Your business is only as secure as the company you keep,” Jardine says. “BOXX helps you protect all of it.”