Cybersecurity and Third-Party Risk

Book excerpt: Move beyond the checklist and fully protect yourself from third-party cybersecurity risk Over the last decade, there have been hundreds of big-name organizations in every sector that have experienced a public breach due to a vendor. While the media tends to focus on high-profile breaches like those that hit Target in 2013 and Equifax in 2017, 2020 has ushered in a huge wave of cybersecurity attacks, a near 800% increase in cyberattack activity as millions of workers shifted to working remotely in the wake of a global pandemic. The 2020 SolarWinds supply-chain attack illustrates that lasting impact of this dramatic increase in cyberattacks. Using a technique known as Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), a sophisticated hacker leveraged APT to steal information from multiple organizations from Microsoft to the Department of Homeland Security not by attacking targets directly, but by attacking a trusted partner or vendor. In addition to exposing third-party risk vulnerabilities for other hackers to exploit, the damage from this one attack alone will continue for years, and there are no signs that cyber breaches are slowing. Cybersecurity and Third-Party Risk delivers proven, active, and predictive risk reduction strategies and tactics designed to keep you and your organization safe. Cybersecurity and IT expert and author Gregory Rasner shows you how to transform third-party risk from an exercise in checklist completion to a proactive and effective process of risk mitigation. Understand the basics of third-party risk management Conduct due diligence on third parties connected to your network Keep your data and sensitive information current and reliable Incorporate third-party data requirements for offshoring, fourth-party hosting, and data security arrangements into your vendor contracts Learn valuable lessons from devasting breaches suffered by other companies like Home Depot, GM, and Equifax The time to talk cybersecurity with your data partners is now. Cybersecurity and Third-Party Risk is a must-read resource for business leaders and security professionals looking for a practical roadmap to avoiding the massive reputational and financial losses that come with third-party security breaches.