Supply Chain Security

Supply chain security means protecting supply chains against vulnerabilities, threats and disruptions that could compromise the security, resilience or continuity of supplied products, services, materials, components or information. It covers the supplier, the supplier's own suppliers, and the goods or services that move between them.

The term is used in several settings. NATO uses it in a defence context, NIST uses related terms in cybersecurity and information technology, and the Government of Canada applies the idea to procurement risk assessment. Each setting asks the same basic question: can the buyer trust what it is receiving, and will it keep arriving?

NATO's defence-critical supply chain security roadmap

NATO treats supply chain security as part of defence readiness and industrial-base resilience. Its Defence-Critical Supply Chain Security Roadmap factsheet identifies supply chain resilience and security as important to defence readiness and to protecting Allied industries. NATO defence ministers endorsed the roadmap in June 2024.

The roadmap responds to globally interconnected supply chains, geopolitical pressure and disruption. It addresses three practical goals: sustaining production, scaling production rapidly, and recovering from supply chain vulnerabilities. A second NATO factsheet sets out the same roadmap.

NIST terms: supply chain risk and supply chain risk management

In cybersecurity, NIST does not define supply chain security as a single term. It defines related ones. Supply chain risk is the potential for harm or compromise arising from security risks involving suppliers, their supply chains, and their products or services.

Supply chain risk management (SCRM) is a systematic process for identifying susceptibilities, vulnerabilities and threats throughout the supply chain and developing mitigation strategies. Cyber supply chain risk management (C-SCRM) applies this to information and communications technology and operational technology. It covers the full life cycle of products and services, including design, development, distribution, deployment, acquisition, maintenance and destruction, as described in NIST's supply chain guidance for small businesses.

NCIA Supply Chain Security Requirements for vendors

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) publishes vendor-specific NATO Supply Chain Security Requirements in its procurement terms and conditions. The requirements cover these areas:

• Supply chain program governance
• Manufacturing and operations
• Logistics
• Physical security and personnel security
• Security and incident management
• Third-party supplier management

Canadian companies that supply NATO agencies or take part in NATO-related defence procurement may be asked to meet these requirements.

Government of Canada guidance on procurement risk

The Government of Canada addresses the topic in Supply Chain Security: Assessing Your Risk Profile, part of its research security guidance. It states that security risk can exist in any procurement, regardless of cost. It directs organizations to assess what is being procured, who may provide it, and how identified risks should be mitigated.

The guidance gives examples that call for different security considerations: services where personnel may access research materials or laboratories, software services that interact with institutional IT systems, and physical materials that may be subject to export controls. It also states that mitigation can include selecting an alternative vendor where the risk is significant.

What supply chain security means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Requirements depend on the solicitation, the procuring organization, the sensitivity of the goods or services, and any security, cyber, export-control or defence clauses that apply. Take the exact obligations from the solicitation and the contract.

• Read the security requirements in each solicitation before you commit to a bid.
• Identify your subcontractors and third-party suppliers.
• Prepare the information buyers may request about your supply chain governance and security controls.
• Be ready to implement specified mitigation measures, whether personnel, physical, cyber, logistics, incident management or vendor management.