Lead with simplicity: A guide for strengthening security in logistics

Supply chains are the pulse of our global economy. When they falter, the effects can ripple through industries — impacting production lines, delivery schedules, company performance, and, ultimately, customer satisfaction.

So, as cyberthreats increasingly target logistics companies, proactively safeguarding them becomes even more urgent. These systems represent critical infrastructure — akin to airports, banks, and hospitals — making disruptions especially high-stakes.

And yet, in logistics the speed at which technology changes (and the speed at which bad actors’ tactics evolve) often outpaces companies’ ability to adapt. The considerable tech debt accumulated within most logistics organizations has led to a pervasive sense that catching up to modern security norms will be excessively complicated, creating a negative feedback loop: Change is dismissed as too complicated, which leads to no change, which leads to even more vulnerabilities.

It doesn’t need to be this way. In fact, approaching security and IT modernization with an emphasis on simplicity and ease of use can set your organization up for success in the long run by creating security norms that everyone can understand and readily apply.

The power of simple

Complexity is sometimes mistaken for sophistication. From the outside looking in, complex IT environments can suggest a leading-edge organization working with the newest tools and applications.

This complexity, however, often masks deeper issues such as disconnected systems, inefficient workflows, and (all too frequently) security gaps. These complexities tend to create information silos and inconsistent access policies that increase the risk of human errors and the exposure of sensitive resources and systems.

In short, complex systems frustrate the company’s workforce on the best days — and lead to disastrous breaches on the worst.

To reduce the chance of these outcomes, logistics IT and security leaders should embrace a simplicity-forward approach to their tech stack, enhancing both the availability of key resources and the overall security of the organization.

So, how can logistics organizations achieve IT simplicity? They can start with these straightforward, simple steps:

1. Standardize and consolidate

More is not always more. When planning and/or evaluating your IT environment, do so with an eye for consolidation and standardization. Are there IT functions that are currently being managed disparately that could be folded together within the same application or system? Does every part of your tech stack integrate seamlessly with every other part of the IT environment, or are there ways you can streamline or improve that integration structure? And when it comes to managing multiple IT functions, are your security policies standardized in such a way that employees throughout the organization can intuitively understand and comply with familiar protocols?

2. Automate where possible

Automation can significantly reduce the complexity of managing IT systems — most notably by accelerating previously manual processes. Automating manual processes supports IT goals in two ways. First, it reduces the chances of human errors that are bound to crop up in repetitive processes. Second, it liberates your IT team from the tedious, time-consuming aspects of their jobs and allows them to focus on more strategic initiatives, such as engaging with the broader workforce about best security practices.

3. Focus on what’s essential

Security is a crowded space. Shiny new tools pop up every day with bold promises. But IT leaders in logistics are best served by a considered approach that prioritizes the most essential features within the tech stack. Security, efficiency, uptime — these are the key metrics that should guide the potential adoption of new technology.

4. Invest in training

This last point is critical: Your advanced IT and security technology is only as powerful as the team it serves. Many logistics professionals don’t interact with technology in a meaningful way on a day-to-day basis. As a result, many aren’t prepared for increasingly sophisticated social engineering attacks.

Good leadership starts at the source. Ensure your IT staff has a well-informed and unified view of the assets and integrations that structure your tech stack. From there, leverage your IT team’s expertise to deliver high-quality training and informational content to the entire workforce.

Simplicity extends beyond technology; it’s about people and processes as well. When your workforce has a well-developed understanding of what threats look like and how they can stop them, your entire security apparatus is strengthened by the power of simplified processes and human intelligence.

Better processes. Stronger security.

The above pillars of simplicity create a wealth of downstream advantages. Simpler systems are inherently more reliable, which leads to fewer disruptions and less downtime. The simplified availability of key resources makes troubleshooting easier when issues do arise, which helps IT teams identify and solve problems as they emerge. And simplified systems tend to have fewer points of entry for malicious actors, which makes it more difficult for cybercriminals to find and exploit vulnerabilities within your organization.

Simplified systems are also much less likely to present security blind spots, making them easier to monitor for suspicious behavior. This makes regulatory compliance easier and reduces the risk of non-compliance fines. When it’s time to scale IT infrastructure, a simplified system makes it easier to add new capabilities and resources without introducing new points of failure. The list of benefits goes on and on.

Today, many logistics leaders feel paralyzed by what they see as a choice between two bad options: Plodding through tech debt or suffering through the unmanageable complexity of modern IT systems. But this is a false choice. By consolidating and simplifying their approach to modern security and IT, logistics organizations can position their companies for a secure and profitable path forward.###

About the Author

Michael Irwin is the global CISO and VP of Technology Operations at Odyssey Logistics. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Michael is responsible for cybersecurity strategy, global IT operations, and major IT transformations to support growth initiatives. He has held leadership roles at POLITICO and WJLA-TV and is a member of the Governing Body (CISO) at Evanta, a Gartner Company. Michael is known for his ability to integrate people, processes, and technology, driving employee engagement and reducing churn while ensuring alignment with organizational goals.