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Data privacy and mitigating third-party risk
Any time you partner with a third party, you run the risk of data breaches due to
improper controls within that organization's operating environment. No matter
the company you work with (or plan to work with), it's always important to
thoroughly research their security reputation and background because you're
essentially making your warehousing operations fully dependent on their
technology. It's a worthwhile precaution to carefully review all contracts and
licensing agreements to make sure that you aren't inadvertently sharing personal
data.
Furthermore, you should do your homework to make sure the company or
service you work with is resilient to direct and indirect cyberattacks. What will
happen to the technology hardware and software you've integrated into your
operations if that third party becomes compromised by a security breach? At the
very least, service could be temporarily disrupted, but you could potentially open
your own systems to attack as a result (take, for example, the recent SolarWinds
hack).
Protect devices and applications with proper access controls
Verizon's 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report shows financially motivated
criminals utilizing attacks against web applications have their sights set on the
warehousing industry. The report finds that as many as 98% of breaches in the
industry are financially motivated, with roughly two-thirds of breaches accessing
personal data and another one-third gaining access to credentials.
The bulk of WMS users – employees out on the warehouse floor – interact on RF
terminals or other handheld computers that are purposed solely for their WMS.
Fortunately, this means fewer people on a personal computer or other
connected device with access or opportunity to browse sensitive network files or
folders, open potentially virus infected emails on the network, and so on.
