What are the key features of the Northdoor third-party cyber risk security solution?
By leveraging Northdoor’s third-party security management platform, organisations can realise several benefits:
What is third-party cyber risk management?
In today’s digital landscape, effective third-party cyber risk management is crucial for ensuring the security of your business.
Third-party cyber risk refers to the potential threats and vulnerabilities that arise from the use of external suppliers, vendors, contractors, or partners who have access to your organisation’s sensitive data or critical infrastructure.
Attackers often target weak links in the supply chain to gain unauthorised access to larger organisations’ networks, using them as a stepping stone to launch more significant attacks. The number of cyberattacks inflicted via third-party vendors has increased significantly in the past year alone.
Understanding the scope of third-party cyber security risks
When data is shared with these third parties, both parties share the responsibility and potential liability in the event of a data breach. Neglecting adequate safeguards can result in severe repercussions, including operational shutdowns, compromised customer trust, and substantial regulatory penalties.
Legal obligations, as highlighted in GDPR, DORA, and NIS2, specifically address third-party risks. Under Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) regulations, the board assumes ICT risk responsibility, emphasizing the magnitude of ensuring robust third-party cyber risk management.
The limitations of traditional approaches
Traditional approaches to managing third-party risk, such as manual spreadsheets and questionnaires, are no longer sufficient in today’s dynamic threat landscape. These methods provide only a snapshot assessment that quickly becomes outdated. This leads to wasted effort in remediation or underestimating the risk, leaving organisations vulnerable to breaches and potential consequences.
Why is there a need for a comprehensive third-party cyber risk management solution?
To effectively manage third-party cyber risk, businesses require comprehensive risk management solutions that provide visibility, evaluation, and mitigation capabilities.
These solutions should enable organisations to:
- Identify and prioritise third parties
- Evaluate third-party cyber risk
- Mitigate security gaps
- Monitor third-party cyber posture.
While security and cyber risk teams recognise the importance of upgrading their third-party vendor risk programs, they often struggle to do so with limited resources. Therefore, organisations must seek cost-effective yet comprehensive solutions that enable efficient third-party security risk management.
Third-party cyber risk security solution from Northdoor
Northdoor offers a comprehensive and easy-to-use Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that manages the entire third-party security risk management process.
Additionally, the solution combines automated, dynamic security questionnaires with external attack surface assessments and business context to provide organisations with a rapid and accurate view of supplier cyber risk.
Furthermore, unlike other solution providers, our solution accelerates and scales the third-party security evaluation and management process, enabling easy collaboration and communication between companies and suppliers.
It not only enhances efficiency but also improves accuracy and enables organisations to stay ahead of real-time threats. By automating the evaluation, onboarding, and monitoring processes, businesses can save time, reduce manual effort, and gain a comprehensive view of their third-party cyber risk posture.
Our platform combines automated, dynamic security questionnaires with external attack surface assessments and business context to give your organisation a rapid, accurate view of supply chain risk.
A rating is calculated based on your third party’s responses to our questionnaire. You have the flexibility to determine how the rating is calculated, aligning it with your company’s internal policies and risk tolerance. Additionally, you can identify critical “deal-breaker” questions to identify vendors that do not meet internal requirements quickly.
We then provide an objective overview of your vendor’s attack surface using externally available data. Through numerous tests, we assess three key layers:
- Network & IT: including web, e-mail, and DNS servers, TLS protocols, asset reputation, cloud solutions, and exposed services.
- Application: evaluating web applications, CMS, and domain attacks.
- Human: considering employees’ attack surface, social posture, presence of a dedicated security team, and more.
Traditional manual questionnaires are time-consuming and resource-intensive. More importantly, it is out of date almost immediately.
Our platform significantly reduces the time and effort required to manage vendor security questionnaires, saving organisations valuable resources and costs.
With built-in templates and complete automation, the platform streamlines the questionnaire creation process, allowing for quick generation based on regulatory requirements and business context.
Additionally, the platform provides easy navigation of questionnaire responses and facilitates vendor communication, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.
The traditional vendor onboarding process can take weeks to complete, causing delays and frustration.
Organisations can streamline the vendor onboarding process and support business growth.
Assessments can be completed in days, saving precious time and enabling organisations to scale their vendor management programs quickly.
By implementing Northdoor’s comprehensive third-party security solution, organisations can significantly reduce the likelihood of data breaches caused by third parties.
Additionaly our platform provides continuous visibility and actionable insights into evolving supplier risk, allowing organisations to prioritise risk remediation and ensure compliance with industry regulations.
The platform offers a holistic view of vendor cyber risk, enabling organisations to manage and mitigate risk effectively.
Aligning with security policies and risk appetite, it allows organisations to implement security controls quickly.
Furthermore, our solution provides signals of a vendor’s deteriorating security posture, such as critical vulnerabilities or mentions of breaches, enabling proactive risk mitigation.
Additionally, our platform empowers organisations to create a comprehensive third-party security program and process.
It facilitates the evaluation and onboarding of new vendors and continuous monitoring of existing vendors.
Furthermore, it can be utilised to assess the security of an organisation’s digital footprint or subsidiaries, making it a versatile solution for various scenarios, including mergers and acquisitions.
Get a 360-degree rating of your supplier’s cyber risk with a free demo
Northdoor is with you every step of the way. We will help you evaluate new vendors, close their cyber gaps and continuously monitor their cyber posture.
To learn more about how Northdoor can address your specific needs in managing third-party cyber risk, email us, or call us on 020 7448 8500 to arrange a free initial consultation.
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