Are Your Vendors Increasing Your Data Breach Risk Level?
Giving third-party vendors access to your network and data can create security risks for your business. Remember the Home Depot hack? The home goods giant suffered a system breach when a hacker stole the credit information for more than 56 million customers. And the hack was made possible because of a third-party vendor.
Are Vendors a Security Risk?
A data breach can have major negative effects on your bottom line, as well as your reputation. When the hackers openly admit that they usually target contractors, it’s a major cause for worry.
But for many organizations, working with vendors is an inescapable part of doing business. Outsourcing work related to your payroll and IT is one of the best ways to save your business money.
As a result, these vendors might have access to your internal network. This sort of access signals opportunity to hackers. And if any data does become compromised, those affected will likely blame you – not the vendor. After all, it was your data.
So, your vendor could easily become a security risk. This is especially true if they don’t adhere to security policies that you have put in place for your data. It doesn’t make any sense to have complex protective measures in place within your company only to provide a potential route for cybercriminals to access your data via your vendors.
The True Cost of a Data Breach
If a data breach occurs, your business will have to go through a laundry list of actions to address the fallout. This might include notifying your customers and providing them with credit monitoring services. You will also have to spend time on IT fixes and sometimes even deal with fines and lawsuits.
Depending on the size of your business, this process could cost you anywhere from tens of thousands to tens of millions of dollars. And that doesn’t factor in the potential loss of business, lawsuits, and damage to your reputation.
It’s important to note that your business will need to handle these costs. Even if the breach happened through a third-party vendor, you are ultimately responsible.
So, What Can You Do?
It is important to spell out your expected level of data security to any third-party vendor that you intend to work with. Ensure that you hold your business partners to certain security policy compliance standards.
But this process isn’t simply about putting restrictions in place. It’s about creating a healthy business relationship that helps both parties operate efficiently. Security is a big part of this process.
Specify all this in your vendor agreements, in addition to outlining the responsibilities of each party in the event of a breach. It’s also a good idea to have a strong vendor management process that starts long before signing the contract. You should conduct the appropriate due diligence to ensure that you pick security-conscious partners to work with your business.
Conclusion
Whether your business is big or small, a data breach can cause massive damage that could be impossible to recover from. Because of this, it’s important to ensure that you’re on the same page with your vendors when it comes to security.
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