Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1546025
N O L A N 'S N OT ES 6 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2026 A bout a year ago, the Global Electronics Association published a report, "Intercon- nected: Global Electronics Trade in an Age of Disruption," which made a convincing case that the electronics industry is the most globally inter- connected industry on the planet. But those digital connections come with a warning label: Storing and transferring large amounts of intellectual property means facing data security challenges we've never seen before. Cybersecurity is no longer a nice-to-have propo- sition. You can't just say, "We're a little company; the hackers don't even know who we are." That's sim- ply no longer valid. In fact, cybersecurity experts will tell you that hackers tend to break into value chains more often at small- to medium-sized companies, where security is weakest. Claiming anonymity and obscurity is no longer a choice for these companies. Recently, I came across a blog post claiming that hackers had stolen schematics for the Apple iPhone 18 from Tata, an Indian supplier in the Apple value chain. I traced the story back to Appleinsid- er.com, which broke the news. Other mainstream channels picked up the story and added their own BY N O L A N J O H N S O N , I - C O N N ECT 0 07 The CMMC Certification Question Mark