How You Can Ensure Third-Party Security In Your Business Operations This Year

Introduction

The last few years have changed the business landscape, and security threats are more complex than ever. It’s no longer enough to rely on a traditional IT department to secure your network. You need to make sure that third-party vendors also have adequate protections in place, or else you risk exposing your business operations to hackers and data breaches. Here are four steps you can take toward establishing third-party security for your organization:

Review your contracts

Reviewing your third-party contracts is an important step in ensuring that your business is protected against cybercrime. A contract can help you ensure that each third party has the right security measures in place, and if they don’t, it allows you to take action against them.

If you haven’t had a chance yet, now would be an excellent time to review all of your current contracts with the companies that provide services for your organization (think IT support or HR management). Look through each document carefully and make sure there’s no language about security being handled by another party; if there is, make sure this information is accurate! You should also make sure that every single contract covers cybersecurity requirements–if it doesn’t currently specify what those are in detail, add some language specifying how security needs will be met before signing off on anything else.

Establish a third-party security program

• Establish a third-party security program.
• Set up your third-party security program.
• Manage your third-party security program.

Identify what third parties are doing with your data and protect it

If you’re like most businesses, you probably have a lot of third parties working with your data. You might be sharing it with contractors or vendors, but even if all the third parties are employees of yours, they still need to follow company policies regarding how they handle sensitive information.

To ensure that these policies are being followed:

• Identify what third parties have access to this information (and keep an eye on who has access over time). This is especially important when considering whether or not someone needs access in order for them to do their job well–if the answer is “no,” then there’s no reason why they should have it!
• Ensure that only those people who need access actually get it–this helps ensure privacy and security for everyone involved in handling this type of data because no one can use another person’s login credentials without permission from both parties involved (the person granting permission/access and whoever needs them).

Third-party security is essential.

Your business is only as secure as its weakest link, and third-party security is a critical component of your overall security program. It’s not just about protecting your data; it’s also about protecting your business.

If you want to ensure that you have complete control over who has access to what in your organization, then third-party security should be top of mind for 2019.

Conclusion

Third-party security is a crucial part of your business operations. You can’t rely on any one party to protect your data, so you have to take steps to ensure that all parties involved in your business are doing everything possible to keep it safe. Your first step should be reviewing any contracts and agreements with third parties who have access or control over data relating to customers or employees. Next, establish a third-party security program that includes comprehensive policies and procedures for handling sensitive information like passwords or credit card numbers – anything that could potentially be stolen or compromised by hackers trying access through phishing attacks (which we cover more in depth below). Finally, identify what third parties are doing with your data and protect it from potential threats like malware infection on computers used at home offices