Finding the Right Supply Chain Firmware Security Solution

Security solutions are always evolving. While most people are aware of threats such as viruses that affect operating systems, many new threats target the devices themselves. Bad actors are now attacking vulnerabilities in the supply chain to corrupt devices before they even reach the end user. These types of threats have even affected some of the country’s biggest corporations.

In a recent webinar, I recently sat with my colleague, Marcus Claycomb, Panasonic Connect Business Development Manager, and expert Wes Dobry, Eclypsium Global Director of Sales Engineering to discuss supply chain and firmware security. In the webinar, they explore the nature of the threats and how our joint solution ensures TOUGHBOOK computers can help organizations achieve supply chain security and maintain compliance with government regulations.

How Do Supply Chain Firmware Security Threats Work?

End users often have limited visibility into the full supply chain of their hardware devices. Those components are often sourced from multiple countries, factories, and suppliers. And any link in that chain may be susceptible to bad actors. We all must stay vigilant when facing these factors: 

• Persistency: Threats attacking hardware or firmware are often more persistent than a typical software virus. Because the threat is part of the device itself, even a full wipe and reload of software will not combat the issue.
• Trust: End users expect devices to be what they say they are. This implicit trust can lead users to a false sense of security. Without supply chain and firmware verification, new, corrupted devices may be added to networks, expanding the scope of the problem.
• Danger: Hardware and firmware attacks give bad actors great control over devices. This can lead to high level attacks such as data destruction or physical corruption of devices. 

All of these factors make supply chain and firmware threats difficult to combat. If a threat does successfully infiltrate a system, it can result in major operational and financial consequences. To combat these threats, government and private industries have started to implement regulations that specifically address supply chain and firmware security.

Supply Chain Security Solutions with Panasonic Connect Smart Compliance, Powered by Eclypsium

To combat supply chain threats, organizations can use Smart Compliance. Smart Compliance allows users to verify their hardware and firmware integrity through an easy-to-use platform. The Smart Compliance Dashboard has three distinct sections: 

• Alerts and Updates: shows critical issues that need to be immediately addressed within your system
• Supply Chain Inventory: shows users an itemized list of all devices and device components
• Asset Risks: gives an overview of the risks in the system, breaking down vulnerabilities and risks into easily understandable graphs. 

There is also a compliance tab, which shows whether devices are compliant with current regulations such as NIST and CJIS.

TOUGHBOOK and Eclypsium Partner to Deliver the Best in Security Solutions

As a longtime leader in the marketplace for rugged solutions, we partnered with Eclypsium to provide a best-in-class solution to protect your hardware. Smart Compliance ensures that TOUGHBOOK computers are not susceptible to vulnerabilities in the supply chain because supply chain security is paramount.

To learn more about supply chain security and Smart Compliance, watch the full webinar.