Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

What keeps CISOs up at night? The extended, often unsecured, ever-changing attack surface of critical supply chain vendors providing an unmonitored pathway into their enterprise. Emerging zero-day vulnerabilities, like MOVEit and SolarWinds, are time-sensitive issues that require immediate attention by security teams that are often over-burdened with securing the local enterprise.

I’ll be honest – the last time someone asked me to assess my behavior was in therapy. Difficult? Yes. Who likes to audit themselves? But that process taught me something valuable: evaluating ourselves, even when uncomfortable, propels us forward. In my many conversations with security professionals, one common theme emerges. We need continuous progress forward as security organizations for the business.

If you’re a business executive or a risk leader, you’re likely familiar with “proxy season,” the time of year when public companies hold their annual general meetings. During these meetings, investors have the opportunity to vote on important issues such as the election of board members and executive compensation.

Third-party risk is everywhere and the cybersecurity posture of those third parties is more important now than ever before. With organizations using 130 SaaS solutions on average, onboarding the “wrong” vendor — one that doesn’t share the same cyber practices or hygiene as you do, or that sharing sensitive data with would be cause for concern — could land an organization in hot water.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States approved their cyber rules on July 2023, originally proposed in March 2022 for public comments (SEC, 2022; 2023). This has sparked many conversations about how the board of directors and executive management should think about cybersecurity and to what extent public disclosures should be made about cybersecurity incidents and risks. Most notable among them is the requirement that material cyber incidents be reported within four days.

The past decade has seen governments around the world introduce significant new legislation covering data, cybersecurity, and technology. This has been part of a sustained effort to regain some influence over big tech and impose good governance practices on how businesses capture, protect, and manage data. This shift towards greater regulation has been largely led by the EU, which implemented the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018.

Whether it’s supporting initiative prioritization, as discussed in Part 1, or justifying budget requests, pursuing cost-effective strategies, and calculating risk appetite levels, as discussed in Part 2, CRQ has the power to transform an organization’s mindset to include cybersecurity in strategic risk planning conversations. This transformation, known as a Shift Up strategy toward cyber management, has become more critical than ever as cyber threats evolve.

Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) will allow your organization to assess and elevate its third-party risk management (TPRM) program. By monitoring specific metrics over time, your risk management team will be able to reveal your TPRM program’s overall health and particular areas where personnel can implement changes to improve localized performance. According to one 2023 study, about 98% of organizations worldwide are connected to at least one breached third-party vendor.