How ASCS helps security analysts manage supply chain risks

Security analysts are the first line of defence against the growing wave of supply chain attacks. 

In 2025, 85% of cyber security professionals experienced a supply chain cyber security incident (46.2% faced two) with one in six breaches now using AI methods (such as realistic deepfakes) to infiltrate weak links in the supply chain and target bigger fish downstream. 

Security analysts are responsible for detecting and mitigating these obscure nth party threats. But, armed with outdated and architecturally flawed TPRM tools, they’re tackling modern supply chain threats with outdated tools. 

That’s why forward-thinking security analysts are moving beyond traditional TPRM processes with a new approach to supply chain security: Active Supply Chain Security (ASCS). 

Here’s how you can embed the four pillars of ASCS and free yourself from the shackles of outdated TPRM.
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What is Active Supply Chain Security (ASCS)?

Active Supply Chain Security (ASCS) moves beyond traditional TPRM's static, siloed and compliance-focused approach and supports: 
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Here’s how you can put ASCS into practice at your organisation and across your network. 
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Standardise supplier assessments

Instead of manually creating or updating a supplier security assessment for each supplier, use one standardised security assessment aligned to key regulations for your industry and goals. 

At a base level, the assessment frameworks should be built on ISO 27002, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework, and Cyber Essentials. You can then add on domains relevant to your organisation, such as ESG regulations or Financial Services standards (i.e. EU's DORA). 

Deploy this assessment to all existing and new suppliers to complete. Suppliers will not only answer the questions in the same way, creating a common language of risk for simple reviews and compliance verification, but by maintaining one standardised security profile, you’ll also be able to constantly monitor their changing security profile without chasing. 

The result for security analysts:

• No more tedious reviews. Cut out mundane and monotonous spreadsheet-based supplier reviews from your day-to-day.
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• No more chasing responses. Interact seamlessly with suppliers during onboarding and get live updates to their security profiles, freeing up your time for meaningful risk analysis. 

• No more onboarding bottlenecks. Assess suppliers with pre-built workflows and processes to reduce onboarding time by over 50%.

ASCS can lead to 75% reduction in time spent reviewing vendors.
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See the entire supply chain

Instead of relying on static, linear spreadsheets of 3rd-party suppliers, use a dynamic map of thousands of organisations and get a bird’s eye view of your suppliers’ suppliers. 

By visualising your entire supply chain ecosystem beyond 3rd and 4th parties, you can identify concentration risks earlier and make risk-based decisions to mitigate sudden disruptions (i.e. sanctions, policy changes). 

In addition, with the full picture of your nth tier connections, you can proactively uncover shared dependencies and take action to avoid cascading failures before they happen. 

The result for security analysts:

• Alert to changing risks. See your entire ecosystem on an ever-growing and living network map, and receive updates as suppliers change their security profiles. 
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• Preemptive actions. Take proactive remediation efforts to deal with concentration risks and nth party threats before they escalate into incidents. 
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• Network-level insights. Impress your team lead with updates on emerging risks in the ecosystem, instead of reacting to incidents as they unfold.

Less than 50% of organisations currently monitor risks beyond their direct, third-party relationships.
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Identify and respond to emerging threats

Instead of waiting to hear about attacks from impacted suppliers, overlay the network map with proactive threat management tools. 

With an expanding database of suppliers as your foundation, you can add detection, monitoring and mitigation tools on top, which enable you to respond earlier in the incident lifecycle. 

For instance, real-time risk alerts, intuitive dashboards and simulated disruptions enable you to assess the impact of potential threats and create strategic response playbooks. 

The result for security analysts:

• Stay on the front foot. Receive real-time alerts to changes in suppliers’ security posture, understand the "blast radius" of potential breaches, and mitigate risks proactively.
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• Threat mitigation, not escalation. Get ahead of incidents before they escalate, so you can inform your team lead about threats you've dealt with, not threats you’re facing. 
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• Credibility with industry peers. Leverage network-level evidence to show other security analysts in your industry that you're leading the way in proactive risk management. 

37.8% of cyber professionals noted the inability to continuously monitor suppliers’ internal security controls as a key shortcoming.
 

Coordinate network defence

Instead of an adversarial relationship with suppliers - based on an endless back-and-forth about security questions - seamlessly collaborate with suppliers on one platform. 

From large enterprises to obscure nth party suppliers, communicating on a single platform underpins frictionless intelligence-sharing, responsive threat mitigation and coordinated remediation actions. 

What’s more, by working together with your suppliers and network partners, you optimise the entire ecosystem's resources, ensure every link in the chain is fortified and make a tangible impact to your ecosystem’s resilience. 

The result for security analysts: 

• Better collaboration, better outcomes. With industry peers sharing insights and intelligence, you make the entire supply chain more productive and secure. 
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• Supply chain leadership. By building trust with suppliers during the assessment process and seamlessly collaborating when a breach occurs, you cement your role as the ecosystem’s leading defence team. 
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• Ecosystem-wide resilience. Move beyond siloed, reactive measures to collective, coordinated defence, ensuring every link in the chain is fortified and enhancing organisational security. 

“Security leaders, analysts and suppliers working together across the ecosystem is one of the most powerful levers in supply chain security. ASCS supports this coordinated defence while strengthening operational resilience.”

Haydn Brooks, Co-Founder and CEO, Risk Ledger
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Risk Ledger’s ASCS approach

Your ultimate brief is protecting the organisation. You can only do this by moving toward Active Supply Chain Security. 

Risk Ledger is leading the shift to Active Supply Chain Security. By standardising supplier data, connecting thousands of organisations onto a living network, and overlaying proactive threat intelligence, our four-stage approach is helping organisations move beyond fragmented TPRM toward a more connected and continuous supply chain security model.
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Together, these capabilities form the foundation for organisations progressing toward Active Supply Chain Security — continuous visibility, systemic risk reduction, and collaborative defence across Financial Services, Critical National Infrastructure and the Public Sector. Because in today's interconnected world, every link matters.
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Find out how other security analysts have implemented ASCS with Risk Ledger

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