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YOUR BIGGEST SECURITY RISK MIGHT NOT EVEN WORK FOR YOU
Your SaaS vendors often have more access than your own staff, and attackers know this
Learn why vendor risk is a growing cybersecurity threat for SMBs and how to evaluate, limit, and manage third-party access to reduce exposure and prevent breaches.
Why Vendor Risk Matters
Every third-party vendor you rely on expands your organization’s attack surface, often in ways that are easy to overlook. SaaS platforms, managed service providers, and software vendors often require access to systems, data, or integrations that rival or exceed those of internal users. When those vendors are compromised, attackers inherit that access without ever directly targeting your organization. For small and medium-sized businesses, vendor risk becomes a critical cybersecurity concern, rather than a theoretical one.
High-Profile Breaches: Third Parties as Entry Points
Some of the most damaging cyber incidents in recent years did not begin with direct attacks against the victim organizations themselves, but through trusted vendors. Breaches such as SolarWinds and MOVEit demonstrate how attackers can compromise a single third party and then leverage that access to impact thousands of downstream customers. These incidents underscore a critical reality: even organizations with strong internal security controls can be exposed through vendor relationships.
Key lessons from these breaches include:
SolarWinds: A compromised software update allowed attackers to gain persistent access to customer environments.
MOVEit: A vulnerability in a widely used file transfer application enabled mass data exfiltration across many organizations.
What was the common thread? Trust in third-party software and services was exploited as the initial attack vector.
Understanding What Vendors Touch
Vendor risk is not just about who you work with; it’s about what they can access. Many organizations underestimate the scope of vendor permissions, particularly when it comes to SaaS integrations, APIs, and managed services. Without a clear understanding of the data and systems vendors interact with, businesses may unknowingly expose sensitive information or critical infrastructure to unnecessary risk.
When evaluating vendor access, organizations should understand:
What data the vendor can access or store, such as customer information, financial data, credentials, or intellectual property
Which systems or applications are integrated, including administrative portals, cloud platforms, or internal tools
Whether data is shared with sub-processors and where that data is stored or processed
Due Diligence and Security Vetting
Before onboarding a new vendor, organizations should perform due diligence to understand the vendor’s security posture and risk profile. This process helps identify red flags early and ensures that security expectations are clearly established before access is granted. For SMBs, due diligence does not need to be overly complex, but it should be consistent and risk-based.
Effective vendor security vetting may include:
Security questionnaires covering access controls, data protection, and incident response practices
Independent assurance reports, such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001, when available
Review of breach history or public incidents involving the vendor
Understanding how the vendor secures their cloud environment and customer data
Vendors with legitimate security practices should be willing to provide clear answers, and organizations should not hesitate to advocate for their own security requirements before establishing access.
Tiering Vendors by Risk
Not all vendors introduce the same level of risk, and treating them equally can lead to wasted effort or overlooked exposures. By tiering vendors based on the level of access they have and the potential business impact of a compromise, organizations can focus their security resources where they matter most. This risk-based approach is especially important for SMBs with limited time and staffing.
A simple vendor risk tiering model may include:
High-risk vendors: Access critical systems, sensitive data, or core business functions
Medium-risk vendors: Support business operations but with limited access or data exposure
Low-risk vendors: Minimal access and no sensitive data interaction
Least Privilege and Access Control
One of the most effective ways to reduce vendor risk is to strictly limit what third parties can access. Vendors should only be granted the minimum level of access necessary to perform their function, and nothing more. Excessive permissions, especially persistent or administrative access, significantly increase the impact of a vendor compromise and can allow attackers to move laterally within an environment.
Strong vendor access control practices include:
Limiting access to only required systems and data, based on business need
Using role-based access controls (RBAC) rather than shared or generic accounts
Restricting and monitoring API keys, service accounts, and integrations
Regularly reviewing and removing unused or unnecessary access
Vendor Agreements and Legal Safeguards
Strong technical controls should be reinforced by clear contractual obligations. Vendor agreements play a critical role in defining security expectations, accountability, and response requirements when incidents occur. Without clear security and breach notification language in place, organizations may have limited leverage to hold vendors accountable or ensure timely communication during a security incident.
Vendor contracts should clearly address:
Breach notification timelines, including how quickly the vendor must notify you after an incident
Security control requirements, such as encryption, access management, and vulnerability handling
Responsibilities for incident response and remediation, including cooperation during investigations
Audit or assessment rights, allowing reasonable visibility into the vendor’s security practices and relevant security evidence when appropriate.
Offboarding and Vendor Exit Risk
Vendor risk does not end when a contract expires or a service is no longer needed. If access is not properly revoked and data is not accounted for, former vendors can continue to pose a security risk long after the relationship ends. For SMBs, incomplete offboarding is a common gap that can leave unnecessary access paths open and sensitive data unmanaged.
Effective vendor offboarding should include:
Revoking all system, application, and API access associated with the vendor
Ensuring data is returned or securely destroyed in accordance with contractual terms
Validating that accounts, integrations, and service credentials are fully decommissioned
Documenting the offboarding process for audit and compliance purposes
If you’re unsure how much access your vendors have or where your risk exposure truly lies, Threat Archer can help you gain clarity and take practical steps toward stronger vendor risk management.
Download our complimentary Vendor Risk Checklist to quickly assess third-party security risk, document access decisions, and establish a repeatable vendor review process.
How Threat Archer Helps Manage Vendor Risk
Managing vendor risk requires more than a one-time review; it demands ongoing visibility, structured processes, and informed decision-making. Threat Archer helps small and medium-sized businesses identify, assess, and manage third-party risk in a way that aligns with business objectives, compliance needs, and available resources. Our approach focuses on reducing exposure while keeping vendor relationships productive and manageable.
Threat Archer supports vendor risk management by:
Evaluating vendor security posture through risk-based assessments and due diligence reviews
Reviewing SaaS access and integrations to identify excessive permissions or unnecessary exposure
Aligning vendor risk practices with internal policies and compliance requirements
Providing ongoing advisory support as vendors, technologies, and business needs evolve
Third-party relationships are an unavoidable part of modern business, but unmanaged vendor access creates unnecessary risk. By understanding where vendors connect, limiting their permissions, and holding them accountable through clear processes and agreements, organizations can significantly reduce their exposure without sacrificing efficiency. Vendor risk management is not about distrust; it’s about visibility, control, and informed decision-making.
By: Troy Bowman, Cybersecurity Consultant / Engineer
Published by: Threat Archer Cybersecurity Solutions LLC
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