Third-Party Risk: A Major Threat In Your Cyber Security Strategy

🚨 Third-party risk : A major threat in your cybersecurity strategy  

Today, your vendors and partners are deeply integrated into your critical business processes. A single incident at one of these third parties can lead to 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬. At 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄, we help organizations 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 by turning third-party risk management into a 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞.  

🎯 The limitations of traditional approaches  

Too often, organizations assess their vendors using standardized checklists: 

• Volume of data processed, 

• Number of employees, 

• Responses to compliance questionnaires. 

These indicators are useful, but they say nothing about the true business impact. A vendor may appear “low risk” on paper, yet if they are integrated into critical workflows or handle sensitive data, a compromise can result in catastrophic consequences: 

• Financial losses,

• Regulatory penalties, 

• Damage to reputation, 

• Business disruption.  

🔎 Understanding the real risk : The scenario-based approach 

At DEEP SAFE, we advocate for a pragmatic, scenario-driven approach, aligned with international standards such as the 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 (𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤). 

This means: 

Identifying potential risk scenarios: 

• What if this vendor suffers a ransomware attack? 

• What would be the impact of a customer data breach? 

Quantifying risk in financial terms:  

• What is the expected loss? 

• How likely is the event to occur? 

Assessing the effectiveness of existing controls using models like FAIR-TAM (Threat & Controls Assessment Model). 

This approach moves beyond theoretical assessments to model the real-world business impact, enabling organizations to prioritize actions based on material risk.  

🧩 The solution: Anticipatee and Act 

To uncover risks in your vendor ecosystem, we recommend following four key steps: 

• Map your critical risk scenarios based on your business context. 

• Classify vendors not by generic criteria, but by their potential impact on your operations. 

• Focus remediation efforts on high-impact risks, and implement effective, measurable controls. 

• Actively collaborate with vendors: share risk insights, co-develop action plans, and build a cybersecurity culture across your supply chain.  

🚀 At DEEP SAFE, we help our clients: Model and quantify vendor risk using advanced analytics: 

• Optimize prevention strategies, 

• Strengthen cybersecurity posture, 

• And most importantly, turn risk management into a strategic differentiator.