Mitigating vendor access risks: Cybersecurity essentials for manufacturers

Learn about securing third-party access and how manufacturers can protect sensitive data with a comprehensive vendor privileged access management solution.

Cyberattacks are not isolated to specific industries. From SolarWinds to Twitter to LastPass, high-profile breaches exemplify that any company — regardless of size or sector — can be a target for a cyberattack. And, threat environments are constantly evolving. The manufacturing industry is especially vulnerable, due to its intellectual property, operational technology (OT) systems, increasing automation, and pivotal position in the supply chain. The disruption of operations has widespread, highly visible impacts, making manufacturing entities popular targets for bad actors.

Manufacturing attack vulnerabilities

Attackers targeting manufacturers may aim to steal proprietary designs or simply cause chaos by shutting down machinery, sensors, or production lines. Approaches include ransomware, data theft, user impersonation, and threats to expose sensitive information. In addition to damaging infrastructure and revenue, these attacks can also erode an organization’s trust and reputation.

Of particular concern for manufacturers is their growing connectivity with and reliance on third-party vendors to maintain equipment, manage software systems, and ensure smooth production processes. With that comes an expanded attack surface for cybercriminals creating major vulnerabilities, especially in areas of mismanagement or limited oversight. For perspective, a 2024 report by SecurityScorecard revealed that 29% of breaches involved “trusted” third parties. Alarmingly, a separate study by Imprivata and the Ponemon Institute found that nearly half (47%) of organizations suffered an attack via a vendor in the past year alone.

So, what can manufacturers do about this troubling threat landscape? A first important step involves creating a vendor access strategy featuring a comprehensive, purpose-built vendor privileged access management solution. This enables you to keep a secure eye on third parties you’re partnering with and what access they have, while curating a zero-trust environment.

Why traditional privileged access management won’t cut it

Many organizations try to extend internal privileged access management solutions to external users. But it’s important to keep in mind that privileged access management tools are simply not designed for third-party access – it’s like trying to carve a turkey with a teaspoon.

Here are four key shortcomings of using a privileged access management solution for third-party vendors, begging the question “How can I track what my vendor is doing in my systems?”

• Undetected shared credentials: Access is often passed around among vendor teams with a credential provisioned only for one staff member
• Lack of control and transparency: There’s no control over vendors’ internal security practices, their security posture, or visibility into their training and staff turnover
• Inadequate audit monitoring: It’s difficult to trace actions taken by external users within organizations’ systems, or how they’ll notify you if there’s a potential breach
• Security blind spots: Organizations may not even know all the vendors who have access, or who their vendors’ subcontractors are

Not surprisingly, these concerning circumstances lead to inconsistent and risky vendor access practices across many businesses.

Building a scalable, secure vendor privileged access management strategy

Vendor privileged access management strategies are driven by a zero-trust approach. That means not trusting anyone, and giving vendors only the access they need to get the job done. It also means using principles like least privilege, purpose-driven access, role-based access, and time-bound access. While zero trust has long been a vital principle of secure access management, it’s unfortunately still not the default strategy for access management.

By limiting and controlling vendor access, manufacturers can reduce the risk of accidental disruptions or malicious actions. The use of vendor privileged access management solutions’ credential management features, including fine-grained access controls, enables access to be determined by the user’s role or device identity – not shared accounts. And with current multifactor authentication methods in place, organizations maintain a crucial access safeguard to protect their reputation and revenue. In addition, these solutions enable every session to be recorded and are auditable for full visibility and efficient issue resolution as needed. Plus, they support both a scalable access management environment and potential compliance requirements.

What does that look like? A leading vendor privileged access management solution features four distinct properties:

• Self-registration for vendors with administrative approval
• Workflow automation for provisioning and access control
• Delegated approvals and notification routing to individuals or teams
• Limited, task-specific access to meet very specific needs

Importantly, unlike VPNs or internal privileged access management, vendor privileged access management solutions ensure vendors can’t move laterally across networks and systems or impersonate other users. In addition, they facilitate secure, scalable workflows that can adapt as vendor relationships evolve, all while having the monitoring capability you need to mitigate cybersecurity risks.

Assessing and addressing vendor access

The initial step in advancing to a zero-trust model and reaping the benefits of vendor privileged access management is to get a handle on the current landscape. Manufacturers must first identify all vendors in their ecosystem and what access they have. This includes four key logistic initiatives:

• Creating a comprehensive vendor inventory
• Auditing current access points (e.g., VPN domains)
• Evaluating how and when each vendor uses their access
• Applying tiered controls based on vendor risk level

Often, organizations find that third-party accounts have been granted blanket access years ago and are not consistently reviewed. Cleaning up and taking notes on these outdated permissions is crucial to strengthening cybersecurity and increasing cross-functional collaboration between internal teams needing vendor support, and the information technology teams provisioning access.

Vendor access has unfortunately become a growing, agnostic security hazard. For manufacturers, securing external access through vendor privileged access management means protecting intellectual property, ensuring production uptime, and maintaining business continuity. As threat actors become more sophisticated and attack surfaces expand, adopting a robust vendor privileged access management strategy is the most effective way to keep your manufacturing employees and production floors resilient, efficient, and secure.

Ready to learn more about vendor access risk management and the importance of safeguarding your most sensitive data? Click here to read about how Imprivata secures third-party access.