Public signals that anticipate supplier risk

Assessing supplier risk is essential to protecting your organization's digital supply chain. Suppliers with weak security practices can become entry vectors for attackers into your network.

Risk signals include: suppliers that do not apply security patches regularly, that do not have relevant security certifications, that have a history of data breaches or that require excessive privileged access to your systems.

The assessment process should include security questionnaires, review of policies and compliance evidence, penetration testing for critical integrations and continuous monitoring after onboarding.

Implement the principle of least privilege for all supplier accesses, segment your network to limit their access, and regularly review granted permissions. In the event of an incident involving a supplier, have a contingency plan that allows quickly disabling their access.