Cybersecurity isn't just about firewalls and endpoint protection anymore — it's about everyone you connect to. If your vendors, partners, or contractors aren’t secure, neither are you. That’s the harsh reality organizations are waking up to as supply chain attacks continue to rise in both volume and sophistication.
Most organizations manage third-party risk through onboarding questionnaires and periodic audits. These are helpful — but they're snapshots, not a real-time feed. In a world where cyber threats evolve by the hour, checking in on a vendor once a year is like locking your front door and leaving the windows wide open.
Static due diligence models miss:
You can't trust what you can't see — and you certainly can't secure what you only assess once a year.
“Trust, but verify” isn’t just a catchy phrase — it’s a mindset shift. Continuous assurance is about moving from one-time compliance checks to an ongoing, real-time understanding of your third-party ecosystem.
This proactive approach enables organizations to respond faster, reduce exposure, and — crucially — maintain customer trust.
When Progress Software’s MOVEit Transfer platform was compromised in 2023, hundreds of organizations downstream suffered data breaches — many of them high-profile public and private institutions. The kicker? Many of those affected weren’t even direct users of MOVEit. They were exposed through vendors using the platform.
This wasn’t the first of its kind. The SolarWinds attack in 2020 was one of the most striking examples of supply chain compromise. Attackers inserted malware into a routine software update that was pushed to thousands of companies and government agencies. It went undetected for months — despite those agencies having robust internal controls.
Lesson learned? Even elite organizations are vulnerable when the systems they rely on — but don’t control — are compromised.
Let’s break down the core pillars of a strong continuous assurance model that fits today’s threat landscape:
Not all third parties are equal. A small marketing agency doesn’t carry the same risk as a cloud infrastructure provider. Segment vendors by:
Leverage platforms that go beyond point-in-time assessments:
These tools offer real-time data on vulnerabilities, attack surface changes, and potential breach indicators.
Too many vendor contracts still lack real teeth when it comes to cybersecurity. Strengthen yours by including:
Manual reviews won’t scale. Use automation to assign vendors a dynamic risk score that updates based on:
Risk scoring helps you triage which vendors need immediate attention and which can be reviewed on a longer cadence.
When a third-party incident hits, confusion costs time — and money. Have a predefined playbook for:
Make sure this playbook is tested — ideally annually.
Continuous assurance doesn't stop with your immediate vendors. You need to know who your vendors rely on.
Example: Your payroll provider might use a cloud service in a foreign jurisdiction that doesn’t meet your compliance standards. If that sub-vendor is breached, your employees’ sensitive data is at risk.
Tip: Ask vendors to disclose critical dependencies and require transparency around their own third-party practices. If they can't or won’t, reconsider their position in your ecosystem.
Security isn’t just about controls — it’s about culture. Continuous assurance thrives in organizations that treat vendor security as a shared responsibility, not an outsourced checkbox.
Encouraging proactive transparency leads to deeper trust and a stronger ecosystem.
Here’s a quick-hit checklist to kickstart your journey:
Your vendors aren’t going away — but the way you manage them must evolve. Talk to us and learn how to implement a scalable, intelligence-driven assurance model that fits your risk appetite and industry requirements.
Let us help you shift from trusting blindly to verifying continuously.
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