Your Network is Only as Secure as Your Vendors’ Networks

With supply chain attacks dominating recent headlines, companies are re-evaluating how third-party vendor behavior affects their own data.

The bottom line? Your network is only as secure as your vendors’ networks and your data only as secure as the third-party platforms that host and protect them.

Ask yourself:

• How is our company evaluating vendor risk?
• How much access do vendors have to our systems, data, users, and clients?
• What is our exposure to bad actors based on that access?

Vulnerabilities introduced by third-party vendors account for about two-thirds of all data breaches. When you partner with a third party, it’s essential to evaluate how access and the platforms they use can create a pathway for bad actors to wreak havoc on your systems.

As companies create safeguards and controls, it’s vital to include vendor risk management evaluation. Unfortunately, threats to third-party vendors—and the effect those breaches will have on your business—are often overlooked.

Regulatory bodies in every industry require companies to have vendor risk management programs in place, but only 52% of companies have security standards for vendors. If your company isn’t part of that 52%, you could be non-compliant with mandates like GDPR.

Firms need a 360-degree cyber-strategy for 2021 if they’re going to not only survive but thrive in today’s increasingly remote world. You can outsource IT operations, cybersecurity operations, IT governance, and cybersecurity governance to several different vendors, but there is power in committing to a single vendor with a 360-degree outlook and responsibility.

Manage Your Vendor Risk

Agio’s Vendor Risk Program ensures cybersecurity and compliance by regularly diagnosing and managing the cybersecurity risk inherent to working with vendors. We stress the importance of having a reliable detection and response capability, a strong endpoint solution, and a rigorous cadence of cybersecurity governance.

Our team performs real-time threat assessments to find out what your vendors are doing with the latest critical vulnerabilities. We find what needs attention, handle data collection, and follow up with your vendors on remediation.

In addition to a comprehensive vendor cybersecurity risk assessment, we score each of your vendors with a risk rating & cybersecurity maturity level so you can make smarter vendor decisions. Let us evaluate and confirm that the cybersecurity framework your vendor has in place is adequate and sufficient. We can tell you if they’re maintaining the expected gold standard.

At the end of the day, you can rest easy knowing you have a reliable program in place that keeps your company and its assets safe.

Are you ready to take control of your vendor relationships to ensure your firm’s security? Give us a call. We’re here to help.

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