Cybersecurity and Information Systems Digest

Cybersecurity & Information Systems Information Analysis Center (CSIAC)
14 DECEMBER 2021

The Digest is a newsletter intended to provide readers with a greater awareness of the latest research and development trends in the four technical focus areas supported by CSIAC while also highlighting recent CSIAC activities, services, and products.

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14 DECEMBER 2021 – CSIAC

Preparing Supply Chain for the Next Disruption Beyond COVID-19: Managerial Antecedents of Supply Chain Resilience

Ethan Nikookar, Yoshio Yanadori

International Journal of Operations & Production Management

Preparing supply chain for the next disruption beyond COVID-19: managerial antecedents of supply chain resilience | Emerald Insight

Article publication date: 10 December 2021

Purpose

COVID-19 once again showed the importance of building resilience in supply chains. Extant research on supply chain resilience management has successfully identified a set of organizational antecedents that contribute to supply chain resilience. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which these antecedents are developed within a firm. Drawing on the dynamic managerial capabilities theory, the current study aims to investigate the critical role that supply chain managers play in developing the organizational antecedents. Specifically, this study shows that supply chain managers’ social capital, human capital and cognition are instrumental to the development of three organizational supply chain resilience antecedents: visibility, responsiveness and flexibility, which subsequently enhance the firm’s supply chain resilience.

The authors employ survey data collected from 598 manufacturing firms in Australia, and Hayes and Preacher’s (2014) parallel multiple mediator model to empirically test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings of the study establish that supply chain managers’ social capital, human capital and cognition indeed have implications for developing supply chain resilience. Furthermore, the mediators through which managers’ social capital, human capital and cognition improve supply chain resilience are identified in the current study.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the extant literature on supply chain resilience, investigating the role that supply chain managers play in developing the resilience of their firm.

Four New Foreign Companies Added to Department of Commerce Entity List

NSO Group: Israeli spyware company added to US trade blacklist – BBC News

The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has added four foreign companies to its Entity List. The decision comes as these companies – two from Israel, and one each from Russia and Singapore – were deemed to act in a way that went against the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. NSO Group and Candiru, the two companies from Israel, reported supplied spyware to foreign governments that used these tools to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers. 

New Law Tightens U.S. Restrictions on Equipment in Supply Chain

Biden signs legislation to tighten U.S. restrictions on Huawei, ZTE | Reuters

New legislation signed in November – The Secure Equipment Act – will prevent companies that are deemed security threats from receiving new equipment licenses from U.S. regulators. The new law requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to no longer review or approve any authorization application for equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to national security.

Commerce Proposes New Software Supply Chain Safety Criteria

Commerce Proposes New Software Supply Chain Safety Criteria – MeriTalk

The Department of Commerce is proposing new safety criteria for connected software to help better secure information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chains, including potential third-party audits of connected software and ICTS transactions, according to a proposed rule posted to the Federal Register Nov. 26.

The Department of Commerce is seeking feedback on the rule in its entirety but is also specifically looking for feedback on how to define what is a “reliable third-party” for the purposes of the rule. The agency also wants to know if its criteria of “third-party auditing of connected software applications” is sufficiently descriptive or whether the agency needs to get more specific.

The agency will accept public comment on the proposed rule until Dec. 30.

The Impact of Supply Chain Complexity on Supply Chain Resilience: the Moderating Effect of Supplier Integration

Microsoft Word – Repaired thesis_Yuhan.docx (rug.nl)

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this research is to explore the direct relationship between supply chain complexity and supply chain resilience (consisting of robustness and agility), and the possibility of using supplier integration as a capability to absorb the negative effects of supply chain complexity on supply chain resilience.

Design/methodology/approach – Based on the previous literature on the content,
measurement and scope of the concept of three selected variables (supply chain complexity, supplier integration and supply chain resilience), a model is presented and tested by linear regression tests. It utilizes survey data collected from 106 suppliers of two automobile manufacturing firms in China.

Findings – Supply chain complexity has a negative impact on building a resilient supply chain. In addition, supplier integration as the moderator is also proved to positively influence the relationship between supply chain complexity and supply chain
agility in a significant way, while no significant moderating effect has been found on the
direct relationship between supply chain complexity and supply chain robustness.

Practical implications – The study offers valuable insights into the management of supply
chain complexity and the development of supply chain resilience. This research provided
managers with a specific way, integrating suppliers, to accommodate supply chain complexity and increase supply chain agility.

Originality/value – This paper improves the understanding of supply chain complexity
effects and provides a basis for future research, as well as guidance for companies facing
complexity challenges. Specifically, it helps to define the direct relationship between supply
chain complexity and supply chain resilience, and the moderating effect of supplier
integration on the relationship.

Digital Twin Integrated Reinforced Learning in Supply Chain and Logistics

https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/5/4/84/pdf

Abstract: Background: As the Internet of Things (IoT) has become more prevalent in recent years, digital twins have attracted a lot of attention. A digital twin is a virtual representation that replicates a physical object or process over a period of time. These tools directly assist in reducing the manufacturing and supply chain lead time to produce a lean, flexible, and smart production and supply chain setting. Recently, reinforced machine learning has been introduced in production and logistics systems to build prescriptive decision support platforms to create a combination of lean, smart, and agile production setup. Therefore, there is a need to cumulatively arrange and systematize the past research done in this area to get a better understanding of the current trend and future research directions from the perspective of Industry 4.0.

Results: The findings are snowballed as a systematic review and later the final data set has been conducted to understand the intensity and relevance of research work done in different subsections related to the context of the research agenda proposed. Conclusion: A framework for data-driven digital twin generation and reinforced learning has been proposed at the end of the paper along with a research paradigm.

Op-ed | SOS Space: Why cybersecurity and supply chain risk management must go hand in hand

Op-ed | SOS Space: Why cybersecurity and supply chain risk management must go hand in hand – SpaceNews

There is little doubt that the domains of space and cyber are currently being contested through antagonistic behavior across the globe.

Near-peer adversaries have already strategically prioritized these as preferred domains of action, both in competition and conflict. Cyber-enabled supply chain attacks are increasingly and globally being used as a hybrid warfare tactic to provide advantages. Predictably, they afford adversaries a relatively cost-effective means of engagement, plausible deniability, and avoid the political backlash that inevitably results from lethal action and physical incursion. Considering the emphasis placed on these domains, the U.S. space, defense, and intelligence communities must concentrate efforts to safeguard space assets, preserve strategic and military advantages, and solidify national security and global stability. Cybersecurity and supply chain integrity must become integral and elevated concerns for the space community, as well as space consumers and strategic stakeholders.