The rising call to protect agency technology supply chains isn’t new. Back in 2012, the Senate Armed Services Committee released an eye-opening report on counterfeit electronic products in the Defense Department.
The Pentagon has been aware of counterfeit and supply chain problems dating back decades, but saw a huge upswing in these parts infiltrating its national security systems starting in 2005.
The recent SolarWinds cyber breach brought to light not only how complicated this challenge is but the need to stop staring at the problem and take real action.
Over the last few years, agencies have done a lot of thinking and planning with the development of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) standards and the creation of the Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC) to name a few, but real change has been hard to come by.
Jon Boyens, the deputy chief of Computer Security Division at the National Institute of Science and Technology, said a 2018 report by the Ponemon Institute found 66% of companies do not have a comprehensive third-party inventory. The 2019 Ponemon report found…
