Cyber Threats and Supply Chain Security

This unit introduces the modern cyber threat landscape, examining root causes for rising attacks, high-profile breaches, and the common attack types that exploit today’s digital ecosystem. Students analyze vulnerabilities across cloud, IoT/mobility, software supply chains, and IT/OT convergence and assess how emerging technologies such as generative AI affect supply chain optimization and cybersecurity risk.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the current cyber threat landscape by identifying and categorizing attacker motivations, common vectors, and historic breaches that illustrate the root causes of increased cyberattacks.
• Evaluate major attack types (social engineering, phishing, ransomware, botnets, DDoS, insider threats) and assess their potential impacts on organizations, critical infrastructure, and interconnected supply chains.
• Apply security principles and mitigation strategies to scenario-based problems involving cloud services, IoT/mobility devices, software supply chains, and IT/OT convergence to produce prioritized risk-reduction recommendations.
• Demonstrate understanding of how generative AI and other emerging technologies influence supply chain optimization and cybersecurity posture by assessing associated benefits, risks, and controls for business scalability.