Third-Party Risk: Your Security Is Only as Good as Your Vendors

An Attacker's Easiest Route May Be Your Supplier

Modern businesses run on vendors — software, IT support, payroll, cloud services. Each one you grant access to is a potential path in. Attackers know this, and increasingly target the weaker supplier to reach the stronger client.

Managing the Exposure

Know which vendors have access to your systems or data, and exactly how much. Grant the minimum, and remove it when an engagement ends. Ask suppliers basic questions about their own security before integrating deeply. Watch for unexpected vendor activity.

You cannot audit every supplier, but you can limit the blast radius of any one of them. The access you hand out is access an attacker can inherit — so hand out only what the job needs.