Identity Content Assurance and Tracking Systems (ICATSs) for Military Supply Chain Risk Management: A Preliminary Design

Military supply chains are vulnerable to counterfeiting in hardware, software, and medical supplies. This paper sketches an approach for placing identity content on supply chain items. This approach would protect this identity content with cryptographic digital signatures. It would involve testing digital signatures on arriving items, tracking items over their life cycles (including counterfeit detection at each stage), and sharing information about detected counterfeits-especially if the counterfeiting suggests sabotage by a national adversary.