Third-Party Risk Management

Your Vendor Got Breached. Now Your Data Is Compromised.

The Problem

Small businesses rely on third-party vendors for cloud services, payment processing, IT support, payroll, and more. But vendor security failures cascade into your business.

The risks:

  1. Supply chain breaches: Your managed service provider, SaaS vendor, or payment processor gets compromised. Attackers gain access to your systems and data through the vendor relationship.
  2. No visibility into vendor security: You signed a contract, but you have no idea if the vendor has MFA, encryption, backup testing, or incident response capabilities.
  3. Compliance requirements: HIPAA, PCI DSS, NYDFS, and cyber insurance policies require you to assess and monitor third-party security. But you do not have a process.
  4. Contractual gaps: Your agreements do not include security requirements, breach notification timelines, or audit rights.

The real problem: When a vendor gets breached, you are legally responsible for protecting the customer data they accessed. But you have no way to verify their security posture before or after you sign the contract.

The Solution

Third-Party Security Assessment & Ongoing Monitoring

We help you evaluate vendor security before you sign, establish contractual requirements, and monitor vendor risk on an ongoing basis.

Vendor Security Assessment

Evaluate vendors before signing contracts. Review SOC 2 reports, security questionnaires, certifications. Identify red flags and negotiate security requirements.

Contract Requirements

Establish security requirements in vendor contracts: encryption, MFA, breach notification timelines, audit rights, incident response obligations.

Ongoing Monitoring

Track vendor security posture over time. Review annual SOC 2 reports, monitor for breaches, reassess when vendors change ownership or systems.

Incident Response Coordination

If a vendor is breached, coordinate response: determine scope of exposure, notify affected customers, document timeline for regulators.

Common Third-Party Risks

Managed Service Providers (MSPs)

IT vendors with administrative access to your systems. If they are breached, attackers gain your network access, domain admin credentials, backup systems.

Cloud and SaaS Vendors

Platforms storing your customer data, financial records, or business-critical information. Misconfigurations or vendor breaches expose your data.

Payment Processors

Vendors handling credit card transactions. PCI DSS requires you to validate their compliance annually. Breaches result in card brand fines.

Business Associates (HIPAA)

Vendors accessing patient health information. HIPAA requires Business Associate Agreements and security assessments. You are liable for their breaches.

Real Client Example:

Professional services firm using 15 SaaS vendors with access to client data. No vendor security assessments conducted before signing contracts. Implemented third-party risk program: created vendor inventory, assessed all existing vendors using standardized security questionnaire, identified 3 high-risk vendors with inadequate controls, negotiated security addendums to existing contracts, established annual review process. When one vendor was later breached, client had audit rights in contract, received immediate notification, and verified no client data was exposed. Avoided regulatory penalties and maintained client relationships.

What We Deliver

  • Vendor inventory and risk classification (critical, high, medium, low)
  • Security assessment questionnaire tailored to your industry
  • Vendor security reviews with recommendations (approve, negotiate, reject)
  • Contract language templates for security requirements
  • Ongoing monitoring process and schedule
  • Incident response procedures for vendor breaches
  • Documentation for compliance audits (HIPAA, PCI, NYDFS, cyber insurance)

When You Need This

  • Compliance requirements (HIPAA, PCI DSS, NYDFS, SOC 2) mandate third-party risk management
  • Cyber insurance applications ask about vendor security assessments
  • You are selecting a new critical vendor (MSP, cloud provider, payment processor)
  • You have never assessed existing vendor security posture
  • A vendor breach occurred and you need to respond

Book a Third-Party Risk Assessment

We will review your vendor relationships, identify high-risk vendors, and establish an ongoing third-party risk management process.

Book Assessment Call