Executive summary Supply chain cybersecurity has emerged as one of the most pressing concerns for retailers, with attacks on third-party vendors and service providers disrupting critical operations and exposing sensitive data. The interconnected nature of today’s supply chain creates a broad attack surface through which a single compromised partner can trigger cascading failures across inventory, payments, logistics, and customer-facing functions. Threat actors increasingly exploit these weak links through ransomware, phishing, and social engineering by bypassing traditional defenses and gaining unauthorized access to sensitive information. Addressing this challenge requires an extension of the "assume breach" mentality beyond internal systems to the broader supply chain network, with Zero Trust architectures, access controls, and ongoing due diligence as core security practices. The stakes are significant since financial losses are compounded by reputational damage and regulatory exposure.…