Glossary

Supply Chain Cybersecurity

Compliance and Regulations

What is Supply Chain Cybersecurity?

Supply chain cybersecurity refers to the practices, technologies, and policies used to protect an organization’s systems and data from cyber risks introduced by external vendors, contractors, and partners. It encompasses both technical controls, such as vendor access management, and governance measures, such as risk assessments, compliance verification, and third-party oversight. Supply chain cybersecurity is a growing focus of global regulatory frameworks due to increasing incidents involving third-party compromise.

Why is Supply Chain Cybersecurity Important?

Vendors and third-party service providers often require privileged or remote access to operational systems for maintenance, updates, diagnostics, or support. This creates a broader attack surface, especially in critical infrastructure and operational technology (OT) environments, where unauthorized access can result in downtime, safety incidents, or regulatory violations.

Recent cyber incidents have shown that supply chain compromise, whether through vulnerable software, insecure remote access, or compromised contractor credentials, can have cascading effects across sectors. As a result, regulations such as NIS2, TSA SD02E, IEC 62443, and the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) mandate that organizations:

Enforce vendor access governance, including individual identity verification and role-based access.
Eliminate shared accounts and restrict excessive privileges.
Monitor and log third-party sessions for traceability and compliance.
Assess and document third-party security postures as part of ongoing risk management.

Without adequate controls in place, third-party access becomes a key vector for cyberattacks and a compliance liability.

How Does Xona Help with Supply Chain Cybersecurity?

Xona helps secure the digital supply chain by enabling organizations to grant controlled, auditable access to external vendors without exposing internal networks or credentials. Through browser-based, protocol-isolated access, contractors can perform approved tasks such as diagnostics or patching, without VPNs, jump servers, or persistent access.

Xona enforces vendor-specific roles, time-based access, multi-factor authentication, and credential injection, preventing shared account usage and maintaining identity-level accountability. All sessions are fully logged, recorded, and reviewable, aligning with third-party access requirements in global cybersecurity regulations.

By combining vendor access control with governance features like access expiration, policy enforcement, and real-time supervision, Xona enables organizations to operationalize supply chain cybersecurity and meet the rising expectations of compliance frameworks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is supply chain cybersecurity a growing regulatory priority?

Third-party access has become one of the most exploited threat vectors in recent cyberattacks, especially in critical infrastructure sectors. Regulations such as NIS2, IEC 62443, TSA SD02E, and the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) now require organizations to secure, monitor, and govern vendor access as part of their broader cybersecurity programs.

What types of third-party access introduce cyber risk in critical infrastructure?

Access by vendors, OEMs, and contractors for tasks like patching, diagnostics, and remote support can introduce vulnerabilities if not properly controlled and governed. Risks include use of shared credentials, persistent VPN tunnels with open network access, lack of session monitoring, and excessive privileges that are difficult to track or revoke.

How can organizations reduce the risk of third-party compromise?

To mitigate third-party risk, organizations should implement vendor-specific identity verification, role- and time-based access controls, eliminate shared accounts, enforce MFA and protocol isolation, and log all session activity for full auditability. These controls are often required under OT-specific frameworks like IEC 62443-2-4 and NERC CIP.

How does Xona enable secure third-party access without exposing internal networks?

Xona provides browser-based, protocol-isolated remote sessions that allow vendors to perform specific tasks without direct network connectivity, VPNs, or jump servers. Access is governed by policy, restricted by identity and time, and recorded end-to-end to preserve visibility and control. All sessions can require multi-level approval workflows and allow for administrator oversight, intervention, and termination as required.

How does Xona enforce compliance with supply chain cybersecurity mandates?

Xona enforces compliance through granular access policies, credential injection to eliminate shared accounts, protocol isolation, session recording, and integration with SIEM/GRC systems to provide the traceability and documentation required by modern cybersecurity frameworks.

Can Xona support vendor access across air-gapped or regulated OT environments?

Yes, Xona can operate in air-gapped, low-bandwidth, or highly regulated OT environments by segmenting access at the protocol level, storing logs and session data locally, and enabling real-time oversight, even in disconnected environments.