Northwest Aerospace News April | May Issue No.14 | Page 62

THE U.S. DEFENSE
SUPPLY CHAIN IS NOW A NATIONAL SECURITY RISK
C
Jerry Leishman
Vice President
Regulatory Business Advisory,
CORTAC Group
PNDC SPOTLIGHT
62
By Jerry Leishman, Vice President, Regulatory Business Advisory, CORTAC Group
yber attacks from foreign governments are at the forefront of U.S. national security
concerns and defense supply chain. Countries like China, Russia, and North Korea are among
our most serious threats — not to mention non-state terrorist actors and other organized crime
groups.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) estimates that billions of dollars of sensitive and
controlled unclassified information (CUI) is exfiltrated or lost annually through the defense
contractor supply chain. This loss of critical information to our potential adversaries erodes
our U.S. military advantages, threatens our critical infrastructure, and limits our manufacturing
leadership — which is vital to our national security and economic prosperity.
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