The chance that a third-party vendor or supplier will expose your company to a cybersecurity vulnerability is known as third-party risk. There are several different ways for this to occur, including a system failure, a data leak, or a hostile attack.

In South Africa, third-party risk is becoming a bigger problem for businesses of all kinds. The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) recently conducted a study, and the results revealed that the average cost of a third-party data breach is R13 millio

Organisations in South Africa have a variety of options for reducing third-party risk. These consist of:

Do your homework on all outside vendors. This entails looking at their history of security issues as well as their security policies and processes. Request that other providers follow the security guidelines set forth by your company. This can entail asking them to employ multi-factor authentication, create strong passwords, and encrypt critical data.Keep an eye out for security incidents at third-party vendors. You can accomplish this by configuring security warnings or by performing frequent security assessments. Prepare a strategy for handling a third-party security incident. Steps for alerting impacted consumers, containing the problem, and recovering from it should all be part of this plan. Organisations can reduce the danger of a third-party security incident in South Africa by following these measures.

Here are some more recommendations for reducing third-party risk:

• To identify and prioritise your third-party risks, use a risk assessment tool.
• Create a plan to reduce third-party risks within your risk appetite after determining your risk appetite.
• Put in place a vendor management procedure that involves investigation, contract negotiating, and continuing oversight.
• Make a plan for handling security events involving third parties.

A company can begin to safeguard itself against the dangers posed by third-party connections by heeding these recommendations. Your third-party security risk management may be automated, accelerated, and scaled with the help of a solution from Da Vinci Cybersecurity.

Source: SABRIC, Ponemon, Allianz