Jeff Fields, Director of Government Programs, Gallagher Security discusses how to solve the overlooked security risks in modern supply chains.
Supply chains are under more pressure than ever, from geopolitical instability and labor shortages to increasing cyber-physical threats and tightening regulations.
Yet amid all this complexity, physical security is still too often treated as a bolt-on function – something reactive, fragmented and managed in silos.
In my experience working with supply chain and logistics providers, manufacturers and government agencies across North America, this approach is no longer sustainable.
The consequences of unmanaged risk aren’t just security-related – they’re operational, financial and reputational.
It’s time to move beyond the patchwork of legacy systems, overlapping vendors and spreadsheet-driven compliance.
We need to shift toward an integrated platform mindset that treats security not as a cost center, but as a critical enabler of supply chain resilience.
If you’ve walked a distribution center floor at midnight or reviewed access logs after a cargo diversion incident, you’ve likely seen the problem up close.
Warehouse doors propped open after hours. Temporary workers with overprovisioned credentials. Video systems with inconsistent retention policies. Siloed alarms that no one on-site knows how to interpret.
These aren’t edge cases: they’re common conditions in many North American supply chain environments, particularly across multi-site, multi-modal or rapidly scaling operations.
But supply chain blind spots don’t begin and end at the warehouse door.
Consider the complexity of goods moving through ports of call, across international borders via air, land and sea.
Access control challenges extend to tarmac operations, container yards and customs inspection zones – environments where physical security intersects directly with national security.
In these contexts, the stakes are higher and so are the risks: insider access, tampering and compromised handoffs can all jeopardize supply continuity and compliance.
The underlying issue? Physical security tools were rarely designed with today’s end-to-end, globalized supply chains in mind.
Vulnerabilities crop up at the seams – between access control and workforce management, perimeter monitoring and IT oversight, and operational workflows that span multiple jurisdictions and vendors.
Without a unified view across these domains in the supply chain, it’s easy for threat actors – whether internal, external or cyber-enabled – to exploit the gaps.
For organizations moving goods across borders or working with federal contracts, compliance adds another layer of complexity, one that extends well beyond facility security.
Regulatory frameworks vary not just by industry or product, but by geography and mode of transport.
The World Trade Organization and regional trade alliances impose broad standards, while national agencies like US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) oversee how goods are transported, handled and cleared at air, sea and land ports of entry.
Staying compliant in this landscape can become an administrative burden without the right infrastructure.
I’ve seen facilities that rely on clipboards and manual logs to track access in secure cargo areas, or that struggle to produce accurate audit trails when customs officials request them.
Across critical chokepoints like shipping yards or inspection stations, gaps in visibility can delay shipments, trigger penalties or erode trusted trader status.
More broadly, governments are increasingly converging physical and cybersecurity expectations.
They’re looking for secure architectures where devices are authenticated, data is encrypted and access – whether physical or digital – is controlled consistently.
In this environment, compliance isn’t just a checklist; it’s a demonstration of supply chain maturity.
Integrated platforms provide the transparency and control needed to meet today’s standards and adapt to those of tomorrow.
Another often-overlooked factor in supply chain security is staffing.
Many logistics and manufacturing environments now operate with lean, shift-based teams that may rotate frequently or include a mix of permanent and temporary workers.
This makes consistent access provisioning – and deprovisioning – a challenge.
For example, there are cases where former contractors still have badge access months after their term ends.
Or where supervisors share login credentials to get through a system bottleneck.
These behaviors aren’t the result of negligence; they’re symptoms of systems that haven’t kept pace with how people actually work today.
Moreover, as organized cargo theft rings become more sophisticated, insider threats are no longer hypothetical.
Security policies that once relied on trust and tribal knowledge now need technical reinforcement.
You can’t defend what you can’t see, and if your system can’t tell who entered a restricted cage at 3:12am, or which truck was onsite during a missing pallet event, you’re flying blind.
So how do we begin to shift from patchwork to platform?
It starts by rethinking physical security as an operational capability, not just a protective layer.
Integrated platforms that unify access control, intrusion detection and video surveillance offer more than just convenience – they provide context.
They enable real-time decision-making, reduce the cognitive load on frontline teams and offer actionable data for post-incident reviews or regulatory reporting.
Imagine a system that automatically revokes access when a worker’s last shift ends, flags unusual badge activity after hours and allows remote lockdowns if a breach occurs – all while maintaining encrypted audit logs that can be shared across departments.
That’s not science fiction.
That’s what integrated, policy-driven security looks like when it’s designed to support the business, not just react to threats.
Of course, moving to an integrated model often requires investment and that means securing buy-in from leadership outside the security function.
In my experience, the most effective business cases focus on risk mitigation and operational efficiency.
To reframe the conversation with stakeholders, it’s helpful to explore the unique priorities of each function.
For operations teams, consider the impact of faster incident response or remote diagnostics on minimizing downtime.
From a compliance perspective, ask what the consequences – financial or reputational – of a failed audit or regulatory fine might be.
IT leaders will want to understand how secure and supportable the current physical devices are from a network standpoint.
For finance, the conversation may hinge on identifying cost savings through vendor consolidation and streamlined management across systems.
Security isn’t just about preventing loss. It’s about enabling continuity, ensuring trust and reducing the noise that prevents teams from focusing on what matters most.
Framing the discussion this way helps elevate physical security from a line item to a strategic differentiator.
We don’t know what the next supply chain shock will be – whether geopolitical, climatic or technological – but we do know that resilient organizations will be those with the visibility, control and agility to adapt quickly.
Integrated security platforms support that resilience by creating a foundation for situational awareness and coordinated response.
During the early months of the pandemic, logistics organizations had to rapidly pivot access policies, adjust hours of operation and remotely monitor new delivery protocols.
Those with unified systems fared far better than those juggling multiple platforms or relying on on-site expertise alone.
The lesson was clear: agility comes from integration.
Supply chains are complex ecosystems and there’s no silver bullet for eliminating every security risk.
But by recognizing the limits of piecemeal tools and embracing integrated, platform-based approaches, we can build environments that are safer, smarter and more resilient.
As leaders, we have a responsibility to stop treating physical security as an afterthought.
It’s time to break down the silos between security, operations, compliance and IT, and treat secure design as a shared mandate.
Because in a world where the weakest link can shut down an entire chain, we can no longer afford fragmented thinking.
Let’s stop patching. Let’s start building.
This article was originally published in the August edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.