You do everything right. You use strong, unique passwords. You have multi-factor authentication enabled. Your phone software is up to date. Yet, one day you get a notification: your data has been exposed in a breach.
How did this happen if your security was tight?
The answer is often a supply chain attack. Hackers didn’t break into your house; they broke into the house of someone you trusted with a spare key.
The “Real News” Hook
Supply chain attacks are rising because digital defenses on major platforms are getting stronger. Instead of attacking a fortified castle directly, hackers target a smaller vendor that has a bridge connecting to that castle.
A recent, alarming example highlights this perfectly. Hackers targeted environments connected to the Gainsight app specifically as a pathway to get into Salesforce customer environments and access data. You might not personally use Gainsight, but if a company that holds your data does, you are indirectly exposed to that risk.
The Analogy: The Bank and the Contractor
To understand a supply chain attack, imagine a super-secure bank vault. The main vault door is a fortress made of two-foot-thick steel, protected by armed guards and lasers. It’s nearly impossible to break through.
However, the bank hires an external HVAC company to service the air conditioning vents inside the vault room. The HVAC technicians are given a key to a small, less-secure side entrance so they can do their job.
If a robber wants to rob the bank, they don’t attack the main vault door anymore. They target the HVAC contractor. They steal the contractor’s key to the side entrance and walk right in, bypassing all the major security measures.
In your digital life:
- The Bank Vault is your main account (like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, or Salesforce).
- The HVAC Contractor is any third-party app, game, or service you have linked to that main account.
- The Side Entrance Key is the “permission” you granted that app to access your data.
What You Can Do About It
You cannot control the security practices of every company you interact with. However, you can control how many “side door keys” you hand out.
Every time you use “Sign in with Google” or connect a fun quiz app to your Facebook account, you are creating a supply chain connection. If that tiny quiz app gets hacked five years from now, the hackers might have a pathway to your main profile.
Your Action Plan:
- Audit Your Connections: Right now, go into the security settings of your major accounts (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft). Look for sections usually labeled “Apps with access to your account” or “Connected services.”
- Revoke Ruthlessly: You will likely see a long list of apps you haven’t used in years. If you don’t recognize it, or don’t use it anymore, revoke its access immediately. Don’t leave digital keys lying around for services you no longer need.
- Be Stingy with Permissions: When connecting a new app in the future, pay close attention to what it wants. Does a simple calendar widget really need permission to “read all your emails”? If the request seems excessive, deny it and find a different app.
More Posts Like this: https://johnojabo.com/the-new-face-of-scams-how-ai-is-supercharging-phishing/
https://www.cybersentriq.com/media/supply-chain-attacks-surge-in-2025-double-the-usual-rate