Vendors or Vulnerabilities?
Most institutions today require the support of third-party suppliers to operate successfully, regardless of the business or industry. Third parties play vital roles in organizations’ smooth operations, from bookkeeping and payroll to web hosting, SaaS providers, marketing, maintenance, and more. Outsourced services reduce costs and increase business speed, but the benefits do not come with out risk. By entrusting key parts of your business and sensitive data with third-party providers, you expose yourself to the vulnerabilities and shortcomings of those providers. A third-party supplier’s weak cybersecurity practices may leave your organization vulnerable to a supply-chain attack, where systems are breached through a third-party with access to your systems and data. Organizations must effectively manage their cyber risk as use of third-party providers grows. That starts with building a resilient TPRM program.
What Is a TPRM Program?
Third-party risk management (TPRM) describes processes for identifying, assessing, and mitigating the risks associated with the use of third parties. TPRM is an essential part of an organization’s overall risk management and vendor risk management(VRM) strategies.TPRM involves developing policies, procedures, and controls to manage risk and ensure third-party vendors comply with organizational standards. TPRM ensures third-party providers and services do not create vulnerabilities, business disruptions, or have a negative impact on business performance.
With the consequences of a third-party breach including significant financial loss, investigations & lawsuits, damaged reputation, and loss of sensitive company information, effective third-party TPRM is critical to the continued success of any organization.
Tools & Solutions
Security Rating Tools
Security rating solutions measure an organization’s cybersecurity performance in a data-driven and quantifiable way. These solutions generate scores based on cybersecurity risk assessments. This provides an independent view of the security practices of an organization itself, as well as those its third-party vendors. However, security rating tools use limited risk insight in their scoring processes, relying solely on open-source intelligence.
Third-Party Cyber Risk Management (TPCRM) Platforms
TPCRM platforms have a broader focus on managing all types of third-party cyber risks, including information security, data privacy, compliance, and business continuity. These platforms provide a more comprehensive solution for managing all types of third-party cyber risks. They incorporate a wider range of risk assessment methodologies, such as self-assessment questionnaires (SAQs), vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and compliance audits. This provides a more complete view of an organization’s third-party risk exposure, instead of solely relying on OSINT. Most TPCRM platforms utilize OSINT for a basic risk overview and only one piece of the process. TPCRM platforms provide real-time threat intelligence, continuous monitoring, and automated risk remediation workflows to help organizations manage their third-party risks more effectively.
Vendor Management Platforms
Vendor Management software is also designed to assist organizations manage the risks associated with vendors. These platforms are typically more focused on the operational and business risks of vendor relationships. Cybersecurity is an element of consideration, but features mostly focus on managing vendor performance, monitoring compliance with regulatory requirements, and tracking vendor contracts and agreements.
Customizing Your TPRM Program
Today’s organizations must prioritize third-party risk management to achieve success. With effective TPRM, businesses can prevent disruptions, protect their reputation, and secure their bottom line. Additionally, the risk insight gained from TPRM can strengthen vendor relations throughout their duration and assist in vendor vetting and onboarding.
myCYPR provides organizations with a customizable third-party risk management solution that offers increased visibility of risk for both an organization and its vendors. This comprehensive solution combines the open-source intelligence of risk scoring tools with the in-depth risk insight of SAQs, and vulnerability assessments. With myCYPR, organizations can see, score, and secure their operations with a single powerful tool.
To discover more about how myCYPR can assist in customizing an effective TPRM program, request a demo today.
