Case Study | 22 July 2025
How the Incorporation of Network Security & Transparency in the Supply Chain Revived a Canada-Based Aerospace Giant?
Posted by : Sanya Mehra
The existence of supply chain disruptions and cyber threats in the current era poses significant challenges to worldwide industries, and a notable Canada-based defense and aerospace organization experiences a critical crisis. The company suffered a terrible data breach in 2022, despite being dominant in the market, which is poised to expose sensitive customer and military data. With this particular reputation, the organization catered to Research Nester to adopt progressive network security solutions and ensure transparency in supply chain dynamics. Besides, with the assistance, the company successfully restored trust and fueled its latest financial heights.
An overview:
- The company is the cornerstone of Canada’s defense and aerospace industry, which specializes in producing innovative military-grade weapons and aircraft, along with securing communication systems. It was a key supplier to private and government defense entities, with its operations expanded across Asia, Europe, and North America.
- The company played a vital role in national security with yearly revenues exceeding CAD 48 billion. Despite its technological progression, the cybersecurity measures were old, thereby making it sophisticated and susceptible to cyber threats.
- Owing to poor cybersecurity infrastructure, the company detected a huge data breach by March 2022, wherein hackers infiltrated databases and stole client contracts and employee records. The data was later identified to be sold on the dark web, which triggered administrative investigations and poor confidence among stakeholders. Additionally, AI-based supply chain and geopolitical risks resulted in severe material shortages.
- The breach comprised categorized military designs, resulting in CAD 250 million of regulatory fines.
- Investigations have revealed that the organization lacked real-time intrusion detection systems and readily depended on outdated encryption protocols. Even the supply chain system was affected with poor visibility, with the absence of AI-powered tracking. Besides, the lack of a zero-net security framework permitted hackers to move across the network.
- Forensic-based audits revealed that 89% of the company’s servers were operating on unsupported software, while supply chain logs displayed 32% of discrepancies in component origins.
- The lack of multi-factor authentication permitted hackers to weaken the overall credentials, further accelerating privileges unidentified for nearly 5.5 months before the actual detection.
- The sudden fallout was critical, with a drop in stock prices by 25%, based on which the government in the country temporarily withdrew contracts worth USD 5.2 billion.
- To combat this circumstance, the company consulted with Research Nester to ensure a suitable management of supply chain as well as its cybersecurity. The objective was to integrate future-proof defenses, while maintaining end-to-end logistics transparency.
The Story
In March 2022, the IT team of the company identified the transmission of anomalous data from its servers. Additionally, forensic analysis stated that state-sponsored hackers exfiltrated more than 17 terabytes of data, which included satellite communication codes, along with blueprints for cutting-edge fighter jets. The breach commenced in December 2021, which was unnoticed, owing to inadequate Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools.
However, to compound this situation, the company’s supply chain experienced AI-based sabotage, wherein fraud vendors injected defective components into vital shipments, resulting in USD 905 million in recalls. The absence of blockchain-driven tracking made it impossible to keep track of the original parts. Therefore, due to client defections and regulatory penalties, the company partnered with Research Nester to ensure a wide-ranging security audit. Research Nester’s team recognized over 45 critical vulnerabilities and postulated a multi-layered defense initiative.
Furthermore, the breach’s sophistication was evident by the hackers’ utilization of zero-day exploits, particularly targeting the organization’s exclusive aircraft design software. In this regard, investigators identified that hackers effectively implanted nearly untraceable logic bombs in severe engineering documents that might have enabled distant sabotage of flight systems. Besides, the filtered satellite communication codes have been compromised in terms of securing the network across six allied countries, further pressurizing an unprecedented reset of worldwide defense encryption protocols.
Moreover, the analytical report demonstrated that hackers effectively maintained and insisted on accessibility through conceded IoT systems in the organization’s facilities, which include badge readers and smart HVAC systems. Thus, this physical-digital crossover threat displayed a disturbing emergence in cyber warfare tactics. The personnel files comprised clearance details as well as travel histories and psychological profiles of topmost engineers, thereby recommending potential plans for real-world targeting. Besides, security administrators denoted that this attack was one of the most wide-ranging corporate intelligence operations, which combined physical surveillance capabilities along with cyber theft.
Our Solution:
Experts from Research Nester recommended strengthening cybersecurity infrastructure, ensuring resilience and transparency in the supply chain, and focusing on regulating compliance and gaining stakeholders’ trust.
- Machine learning-based anomaly detection deployment to come across breaches in real time.
- The post-quantum cryptography transition to protect against next-generation cyber issues.
- The implementation of stringent accessibility and control within biometric authentication for sensitive data through a zero-trust architecture.
- The aspect of automating patch management to ensure that all systems achieve real-time updates to combat vulnerabilities.
- The distributed ledger technology utilization to authenticate components from manufacturers through blockchain-driven tracking.
- The implementation of predictive analytics to leverage AI-specific demand forecasting to overcome shortages.
- The cyber-resilience scorecard establishment for all vendors through supplier vetting.
- The adoption of improved data protection protocols beyond standard regulations.
- The collaboration with international cybersecurity firms is poised to result in a biannual penetration evaluation.
Results
The company’s effective transformation is projected to generate the following exclusive results by 2037. This includes a drop in cyberattack cases by 95%, with the absence of breaches. In addition, there will be an improvement in the supply chain efficiency by 45%, which will diminish procurement delays. Meanwhile, the stock price recovered by 38.5%, which further surpassed the pre-crisis level. The revenue is anticipated to surge to USD 55 billion by the end of 2037, denoting an increase from USD 45 billion as of 2025. Finally, government contracts were reinstated, which included a USD 6.5 billion deal for cutting-edge unmanned aerial vehicles. But, the most essential aspect is that the company regained its reputation as a trustworthy defense partner, with clients highlighting its proactive security strategies.
Copyright @ 2025 Research Nester. All Rights Reserved.
Submit Your Request for Proposal (RFP)