Best practices: Eight great ways to help mitigate vendor access risks
Our latest Imprivata thought leadership blog dives into the troubling risks posed by third-party remote access, plus best practices to mitigate them…
There’s no doubt that third-party vendors play a significant role in organizations’ operational success. But on the flip side, they also hold the potential to bring significant damage. Too often, too many vendors have too much access to systems and sensitive data, with too little oversight. Many times, organizations just don’t know what vendors are touching, when, and why. Plus, too much confidence is frequently placed in the strength of vendors’ security procedures.
That all adds up to a recipe for disaster, as the impact of inappropriate access or a breach of vendors’ systems can hit businesses’ operations, compliance, and reputations. Compounding the issue is fourth-party access – via your vendors’ vendors – which also carries significant risks and consequences. The bottom line is that without the right solutions and tools, access visibility and control over both of these parties is often a reactive, cross-your-fingers proposition.
The good news? Here are eight best practices that can help fortify your vendor access strategy.
1) Build a third-party risk management program
Start by stepping back and considering your environment. Map out your systems, defining what data flows through them, and then identify what type of assessment is necessary based on your industry, data volume and sensitivity, as well as regulatory exposure and risk tolerance.
2) Start with due diligence, compliance, and documentation
A vital next step is due diligence, tailored to your business model and regulatory environment. Lay the groundwork by documenting your compliance standards so you can determine both internal and external obligations.
3) Set legal and contractual expectations
Establish strong contracts, particularly with pass-through obligations. That involves ensuring your third-party vendors impose your security requirements on their vendors (your fourth parties). Legal clauses should address audit rights, limitation of liability, and indemnity.
4) Instill better access controls (beyond VPN)
Advance past risky VPN use to a vendor access approach that’s purpose-driven and time-bound. In addition, regularly conducted audits are essential to ensure vendors meet agreed standards not just initially, but throughout the relationship.
5) Get the full picture with data mapping and inventory management
Data maps and inventories can help you get a handle on questions including: Do you know where your data is going? Who’s accessing it and how? Where is it being stored? Misplaced or untracked data expands your risk landscape and complicates breach response.
6) Control access with precision
Access control should be focused on minimum necessary access. What does someone really need? What’s absolutely required? Use those answers to define access permissions. If vendors understand the legal and risk implications of broader access, they’re often more willing to limit their exposure.
7) Audit and monitor third-party access
Audit trails are crucial. Every third-party session should capture who got in, what they did, why, when, and whether any data was pulled or changed. This allows for a clear picture of what went wrong, enabling full traceability while supporting incident response and accountability.
8) Manage offboarding and inactive accounts
Dormant accounts left open after offboarding are problematic. Given that, it’s important to ensure access expires with the contract or due to inactivity. This requires fail-safes and automation capabilities, including setting access expiration dates that synch with contract timelines.
For further insight, check out the Imprivata Live thought leadership session. To learn more about vendor privileged access management, visit our website.