The rapid rise in the remote working model has left enterprises vulnerable to cyber-attacks as most weren’t and still aren’t ready to secure their infrastructure. Though many factors are responsible for an enterprise’s security infrastructure, having the right security vendor can make a huge difference.
In today’s remote working environment, enterprises are witnessing a surge in cyber-attacks as many of are unable to secure their infrastructure. Even though cybersecurity has always had a priority amongst CTOs, CIOs and CISOs before the virus’ proliferation, the rapid adoption of work from home boosted the risks across many enterprises.
A recent report published by Netwrix, a company that develops change management software, found that 60% of the over 900 IT professionals surveyed discovered novel security gaps in their defenses. A quarter of enterprises believe that their cybersecurity is at a higher risk than before.
Even though IT professionals today are keeping their eyes skinned to mitigate the risks coming from the remote workforce, most enterprises overlooking can quickly help them resolve their issues. That specific area is the extension of an enterprise network supplier. Cloud security posture often relies on an enterprise’s supply chain. To keep their cybersecurity intact, it is critical that enterprises focus on third-party risk management.
Why Enterprises must focus on Third-Party Risk Management
As most enterprises IT teams have to manage security activities on their own, most simply opt to trust their vendors to perform their duties. Though IT teams should absolutely trust suppliers, they also need to be aware about the ongoing compliances with regards to their cybersecurity.
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An enterprise that has a many vendors, the data is continuously moving between the company, its customers, and the vendors. Therefore, enterprises should critically assess their vendors across cloud capabilities, with regard to security.
However, when an enterprise implements a third-party risk management program, most end-up finding that their suppliers are out of compliance. So, another practice enterprises must follow is to implement a data protection policy (DPP). This contains an annual attestation but also has monthly validation and security compliance standards.
To tackle this situation, enterprises can opt for two approaches. The first approach is letting the vendors know about the security standard to work alongside the enterprise. If they fulfill the criteria, then its fine, if not, the enterprise must seek out one that meets the expectation.
Another approach is to implement a scorecard and partner engagement strategy. By setting a median score at starting, and the scalability provides vendors the required time to implement the requirements.
Having such programs in place also ensures that vendors are trying their best and provide them with the confidence to improve themselves. Also, this lays the foundation for establishing a healthy relationship.
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Cybersecurity- Team Sport
To keep an enterprise’s cybersecurity intact, all the players involved in the cybersecurity infrastructure need to collaborate. Enterprises must share their knowledge about cybersecurity learning and standards with their respective vendors.
Enterprises must see form their vendors’ perspective and learn what their pain-points are and what steps can help them to remediate the issue. How to educate them, and what investment they require so that all the members can benefit.
Taking such programs by aligning cloud security goals with the vendor can help build a strong relationship, resulting in a strong cybersecurity posture.
