Last year, a small tech services firm had to notify over 10,000 clients that their data had been breached. The culprit wasn’t an external hacker – it was a newly hired HR contractor who abused their access privileges to steal customer PII. The fallout severely damaged the company’s reputation and led to over $400,000 in costs.
Unfortunately, third-party breaches like this are increasingly common. Businesses granted access to vendors, contractors and other external parties often have security gaps that leave networks vulnerable. In fact, over two-thirds of data breaches involve third-party access in some capacity. Along with financial damage, these incidents severely undermine customer trust.
With limited resources, businesses typically struggle to align the security of external partners with internal systems. Onboarding third parties is often rushed, with little vetting. Even once granted access, ongoing monitoring of how external parties are accessing data is nearly impossible without the right solutions.
This article will overview the growing insider threat for your business related to third-party breaches, and how the right technology can help identify risks and lock down your supply chain security to avoid becoming the next victim
Third-party risks are no longer just a theoretical threat. The incidents plaguing businesses have reached epidemic proportions:
Whether it’s contractors stealing trade secrets, vendors leaking customer data or suppliers exposing networks to malware, third parties have become a leading digital security threat. Their expanded access privileges make it easy for even one external partner’s oversight to severely damage an entire business.
The far-reaching impacts of these third-party breaches include:
For most businesses, recovering from a third-party breach can be a nightmare scenario. The damage often extends well beyond just immediate costs and can mean the downfall of their business entirely. And with strained resources, SMBs in particular, often struggle to contain breaches and restore customer confidence once they occur effectively.
Businesses rely heavily on external vendors and partners, from HR and accounting to web services and legal. This expands their digital ecosystem and attacks the surface. Without the right oversight, a single supplier vulnerability can jeopardize the entire organization.
Yet most businesses generally have far less mature IT security than large corporations.
Challenges include:
When businesses allow third-party parties permeability without proper oversight, it makes networks highly susceptible to breaches.
The good news is businesses can take back control and lock down their supply chain security using the proper solutions.
Cyberangels integrates seamlessly with existing systems to provide comprehensive third-party risk mitigation. Core capabilities include:
Cyberangels empowers businesses to align third-party security with their data policies, providing needed visibility and control. Businesses also benefit from robust features like DDoS prevention, malware scanning, intrusion detection and automated remediation to harden environments.
An SMB implementing Cyberangels reduced third-party incidents by 92% within 8 months. They prevented an attempted breach by a vendor. The platform paid for itself in cost savings by avoiding just one incident.
Businesses can no longer afford to have their supply chain security outpaced by third-party risks. With tight budgets, the most effective approach is the technology that’s purpose-built to lock down vendor access without draining limited resources.
Sign up now for a free trial of Cyberangels’ all-in-one platform designed for businesses to take control of third-party risks.
Within minutes, you can conduct automated assessments to uncover vulnerabilities and start reining in access. No credit card is required and no impact on your systems.
It’s time to take the guesswork out of third-party security and ensure your customers’ trust isn’t compromised by supply chain blind spots. Strengthen the security fabric across your digital ecosystem today.
Start running our automatic non-intrusive risk assessment on your Internet-facing systems.
If you’re not ready, book a free consultation with a Cyberangels team member.
