Third-party risk now runs in both directions
For years, third-party risk meant one thing: checking the vendors you hand data to. That still matters. A breach at a software provider, billing company or IT vendor can expose your data or stop your operations, even when your own security is solid.
But the other direction has become just as important. Your clients, partners and insurers now see you as their third party. Before they sign, renew or pay a claim, they send questionnaires, ask for evidence and sometimes walk away when the answers are vague. A business that can show its security clearly wins deals faster.
Assessing the vendors you rely on
- Scope the relationship. What data the vendor will hold, what systems they’ll reach, and how much your business depends on them.
- Review the evidence. SOC 2 reports, ISO 27001 certificates, questionnaire answers, breach history and subprocessors.
- Check the access. Make sure the vendor gets only the access the work requires, ideally through zero trust access rather than broad network or admin rights.
- Check the contract. Flag missing security, breach-notification and data-handling terms before you sign.
- Rate and recommend. A clear risk rating, plus conditions or compensating controls where needed.
Passing the assessments your clients send
- Close the gaps first. We help put the controls clients commonly ask about in place, such as MFA, device management, monitoring, backups and incident response.
- Build an evidence pack. Policies, configurations and summaries you can share under NDA, so each questionnaire doesn’t start from zero.
- Answer accurately. Consistent, truthful answers backed by real settings, not optimistic guesses that create contract risk.
- Stay current. Refresh the pack as your controls and tools change.
Where it fits
Assessments feed directly into an ongoing vendor risk management program and into compliance readiness for SOC 2, ISO 27001 and HIPAA, all of which expect you to manage supplier risk.