Threats to Pharmaceutical Supply Chains

In the digital age, drug makers have never been more exposed to cyber threats, from a wide range of actors pursuing very different motivations. These threats can have unpredictable consequences for the reliability and integrity of the pharmaceutical supply chain. Cyber threats do not have to target drug makers directly; a recent wargame by the Atlantic Council highlighted how malware affecting one entity can degrade equipment and systems functions using the same software. The NotPetya ransomware campaign in mid-2017 was not specifically interested in affecting the pharmaceutical industry, but nevertheless disrupted Merck’s HPV vaccine production line. Merck lost 310 million dollars in revenue subsequent quarter, as a result of lost productivity and a halt in production for almost a week.