What's Planergy?

Modern Spend Management and Accounts Payable software.

Helping organizations spend smarter and more efficiently by automating purchasing and invoice processing.

We saved more than $1 million on our spend in the first year and just recently identified an opportunity to save about $10,000 every month on recurring expenses with Planergy.

King Ocean Logo

Cristian Maradiaga

King Ocean

Download a free copy of "Indirect Spend Guide", to learn:

  • Where the best opportunities for savings are in indirect spend.
  • How to gain visibility and control of your indirect spend.
  • How to report and analyze indirect spend to identify savings opportunities.
  • How strategic sourcing, cost management, and cost avoidance strategies can be applied to indirect spend.

Procurement Best Practices to Fight Against Cyber Attacks

Procurement best practices to fight cyber attacks

The number of companies targeted by cyber attackers continues to soar. Companies like DocuSign, Equifax, and Uber – sophisticated companies with robust security teams and high standards for threat protection – have recently fallen victim to cyber security attacks.

Breaches like these have left us all wondering…are we doing enough to protect ourselves?

Access to sensitive internal, client, and supplier data puts procurement in a particularly vulnerable position.

While IT and security must take the helm of developing a security solution that fits an organization’s needs, procurement plays a unique role in strengthening an organization’s security posture.

In this post, we’ll explore the information procurement has at their disposal that makes them such a high value target, why they’re increasingly susceptible to attacks, and best practices for ensuring organizations are protected.

What Information Does Procurement Have That Hackers Want?

Procurement is home to a plethora of valuable information, including but not limited to:

  • Payment information, like credit cards, invoices, and bank account details
  • Personal information, like W-9s, social security numbers, and contact information
  • Company information, like bids, contracts, and confidential agreements

This information can be used by attackers for financial gain, identity theft, and to help competitors gain an advantage.

On the opposite side, cyber security breaches can be a huge headache for companies. Potential impacts include long-lasting damage to a company’s reputation, revenue loss, valuable resources spent on crisis management and recovery, and more.

Why the Growing Focus on Procurement as a Target?

In an increasingly interconnected world, having easy access to the above information makes organizations more collaborative and efficient with suppliers, clients, and partners. While free-flowing information between these parties makes relationships far easier, it also poses critical security risks.

The question plaguing many procurement professionals is how do they keep all of the great benefits that employees, clients, and suppliers alike have come to rely on, while still keeping the company secure?

What Is Procurement’s Role in Preventing Cybersecurity Attacks?

Procurement can protect companies against cybersecurity risks in three main ways:

  1. Ensure That Procurement Employees Are Adequately Trained

    Attackers have realized that they don’t always have to hack into organization’s back doors – they can enter right through the front when employees haven’t been trained to use smart cybersecurity practices. Your organization will likely have its own standards.

    These should include best practices like:

    • Think before you click on links or attachments from unknown senders or from known senders that look suspicious.
    • Know the rules of encrypting information within your organization. Ask yourself, “Can this information be shared openly or should it be protected further?”
    • Always lock up your computer and clear your desk before leaving work.
    • Be careful of using public Wi-Fi and be mindful of the conversations you have in public.
    • Develop an awareness of cybersecurity risks. Understand the latest schemes that hackers are using and consider whether you are adequately protected.
  2. Develop Standards for Suppliers and Enforce Them

    There is no way to guarantee that the supplier you are working with has stringent cybersecurity standards. Without the right security measures in place, hackers could infiltrate your system through the channels you’ve set up to work more efficiently with suppliers.

    Standards should be set around the following areas:

    • How shared data is secured?
    • Who can access it?
    • What they can do with it?
  3. Know the Plan When an Incident Happens

    If you suspect that you have suffered a cybersecurity breach, your organization should have a published first response contact.

    This contact is typically either your manager, your security team, or your IT provider. Every moment counts during a cybersecurity attack, so raise the flag early.

Cybersecurity Has Become an Increasingly Pressing Concern

Forbes called cybersecurity “the biggest concern of 2017” and with all of the attacks suffered this year, we don’t see that changing in 2018.

As the role of procurement continues to grow within organizations, so, too, should procurement’s awareness of how to protect the valuable information they work with on a daily basis.

Training procurement teams adequately on safe cybersecurity practices, implementing strict standards for suppliers, and having a clear cyber response plan will help ensure that procurement plays an important role in strengthening a company’s security posture.

What’s your goal today?

1. Use Planergy to manage purchasing and accounts payable

We’ve helped save billions of dollars for our clients through better spend management, process automation in purchasing and finance, and reducing financial risks. To discover how we can help grow your business:

2. Download our guide “Indirect Spend Guide”

Download a free copy of our guide to better manage and make savings on your indirect spend. You’ll also be subscribed to our email newsletter and notified about new articles or if have something interesting to share.

3. Learn best practices for purchasing, finance, and more

Browse hundreds of articles, containing an amazing number of useful tools, techniques, and best practices. Many readers tell us they would have paid consultants for the advice in these articles.

Business is Our Business

Stay up-to-date with news sent straight to your inbox

Sign up with your email to receive updates from our blog

This website uses cookies

We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services.

Read our privacy statement here.