Enhancing Cybersecurity in Logistics Services: A Study of Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Service Providers

This study aims to uncover the impacts of cyberattacks on third-party logistics (3PL) service providers and to examine their potential ripple effects among individual stakeholders and across the overall supply chain network.The goal is to contribute to developing a safe and uninterrupted supply chain for all stakeholders by introducing effective mitigation strategies against these attacks.Content analysis was used to examine data gathered from semi-structured interviews with eighteen key stakeholders.Findings reveal that cyberattacks on 3PL service providers disrupt not only their operations but also the entire supply chain, affecting all stakeholders.These attacks cause both short-term disruptions, such as compromised data and operational delays, and long-term consequences, including loss of customer trust, damaged relationships, and significant financial losses.In addition, the ripple effects on all stakeholders can be prevented or reduced through implementing the identified mitigation strategies, thereby enhancing supply chain stability.This study advances the literature on supply chain cybersecurity by analyzing the ripple effects of cyberattacks on 3PL service providers and introducing a multidimensional mitigation framework.