When you work with third-party vendors, it’s essential that they have a solid cybersecurity program in place. Cybercriminals often target third-party vendors because they don’t have the same level of security as the company they work for. A good indicator of whether a vendor has adequate cybersecurity is whether they have signed up for a cyber insurance policy. This shows that they have taken steps to protect themselves from any financial fallout from a data breach.
Two-factor authentication adds extra layers of complexity and security to the login process by going a step beyond entering simply usernames and passwords. Rather, two-factor identification requires an additional PIN code, token or fingerprint to verify our identity. This process makes life harder for hackers, essentially preventing situations where passwords may be stolen or guessed, because we must always have the second verification factor on hand in order to gain access. Using two factor authentication significantly reduces the chances of someone outside our organization gaining unauthorized access and makes more confident that our systems are much more secure.
When working with vendors, one critical cybersecurity marker to look for is their compliance with industry-standard security frameworks and certifications, such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS. These frameworks provide a comprehensive set of security controls and best practices that vendors can use to ensure the security and privacy of their systems and data. By assessing vendors against these security frameworks, businesses can gain assurance that the vendor has implemented appropriate security controls and processes to protect against cybersecurity risks. Additionally, compliance with these frameworks can be used to establish security and privacy requirements in contracts and service-level agreements (SLAs). It is important to note that compliance with security frameworks is not a guarantee of complete security. It does demonstrate that the vendor has taken steps to protect their systems and data.