Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Across today’s interconnected business landscape, organizations are increasing their reliance on third-party vendors and service providers to streamline operations, reduce costs, and access specialized services and expertise. This increased dependency on third parties introduces significant organizational risks, including data privacy violations, operational disruptions, reputational damage, supply chain attacks, and devastating data breaches.

With third-data breaches and their subsequent financial impacts on the rise, Third-Party Risk Management is becoming a non-negotiable inclusion in an organization’s cybersecurity strategy. For those new to this risk management area, this post outlines a high-level framework for applying TPRM principles to a third-party risk context. Learn how UpGuard streamlines Vendor Risk Management >

Successful entrepreneurs all have one thing in common: they know how to manage business risks effectively, even as they evolve. Since the inception of the modern marketplace, and arguably before, innovative leaders have been able to assess their organizations' internal and external vulnerabilities and develop mitigation strategies accordingly.

At Bitsight, part of the Vulnerability Research team's core work involves analyzing vulnerabilities in order to create detection capabilities that can be implemented on an Internet-wide scale.

‍Since the SEC's latest cybersecurity regulations went into effect, thousands of companies have already been compelled to submit their annual Form 10-K with the novel Item 1C. Similarly, dozens of organizations have filed updated Form 8-Ks to disclose cybersecurity incidents. Slowly but surely, these public reports are helping investors become more aware of the intrinsic relationship between cyber risk and market value.

Every cybersecurity team is being challenged to do more with less. CISOs experience top-down pressure to maximize the value of their resources, consolidate vendors as much as possible, and optimize their tool stack. And, they have unchanged expectations of keeping their organization safe across ever-growing digital supply chains. But traditional approaches to VRM often leave cybersecurity teams grappling with a tangled web of manual processes, disparate tools, and fragmented data.

Third-party risk assessments identify, evaluate, and mitigate potential risks that third-party vendors might introduce into business operations. These processes form the foundation for a proactive risk management program, meeting regulatory requirements while safeguarding organizational assets and preventing reputational damage. Cyber risk assessments help identify any security hazards that could potentially disrupt operations and the supply chain.