Are You Too Reliant on Third-Party Vendors for Cybersecurity?
Third-party cybersecurity services are invaluable in information technology, offering crucial insights that safeguard data. They also take over some of your IT team’s tasks, freeing their time to develop improved protocols and ramp up other programs the company needs to function effectively. However, relying on outside software too frequently can undermine your security. The balance between outside vendors and internal systems is vital to long-term IT health.
The Risks of Overreliance on Third-Party Security Providers
Cybercrimes will cost U.S. companies an estimated $639 billion in 2025, with network intrusions being the most common type of attack. Third-party cybersecurity vendors are often the target of bad players. While they may have strongholds to prevent breaches, they still occur.
Finding a balance between outsourcing some of your cybersecurity protocols and being ready for breaches with in-house planning is essential to take advantage of vendors’ benefits without counting too much on any single solution. You risk encountering several potential issues without a robust, multifaceted defense strategy.
1. Less Insight Into Ongoing Issues
Hackers tend to use patterns to try to break into databases. When you outsource your cybersecurity, you have less control over data and may not spot the intrusion attempts until too late.
Your company is still responsible for following regulations, but you’ll have less control over data collection, storage and other security measures. Your security responses won’t be as robust, and you may have to answer questions from reporting agencies in the European Union, which are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation privacy rules.
2. Become a More Attractive Target
Hackers often attempt to get into third-party systems because they can simultaneously attack multiple sources, accessing multiple accounts and sensitive data for thousands of users.
You may remember when cyberattackers hit the Illuminate Education network and gained access to data from 23 school districts across the United States, including sensitive student information. Had the schools split up some of the info, the hackers would have gained access to only part of it.
3. Lose Expertise and Growth Potential
Relying on third-party providers too frequently leads to a lack of internal knowledge. Without a firm grasp of the underlying technology each vendor provides, it’s impossible to tell where gaps occur. In-house IT team members may not develop the skills needed to maintain security if outside services become undesirable or too costly.
Even out-of-the-box solutions typically need some customization to meet your organization’s needs. Knowing how to code is handy, but you may struggle to customize security solutions if you’re rusty at making tweaks. Securing your company’s information requires multiple levels of protection, such as firewalls, antivirus software and artificial intelligence monitoring, for real-time threat detection.
To combat issues with watered-down expertise, you can purple-team the process, no matter how many vendors you use. A purple cybersecurity team has two separate groups — red and blue. One tests the system for holes and weaknesses, and the other fends off incoming attacks. The teams work together to learn from one another and perfect protections.
4. Forego the Ability to Fix Issues Immediately
Putting too much control in a third-party vendor’s hands means trusting them to respond to security breaches and threats just like you would. Unfortunately, they may go in a different direction than you expect. They must also assess risks for everyone on the server, whereas you can focus exclusively on securing systems and managing the fallout.
At least retain your ability to take the reins should the worst occur. Have a plan to notify customers about the incident and what you’re doing to resolve it and protect their data.
Finding the Perfect Balance
While third-party cybersecurity platforms offer expert advice and tools to make your life easier, they shouldn’t be a full solution for overseeing systems and preventing breaches. If you rely on them too heavily, you may lose the skills to monitor systems and respond rapidly. Instead of using only one or two vendors for your security needs, layer them into your existing processes and keep the control in-house.
You’ll benefit from hands-on knowledge and experience as cybercriminals become more adept at cracking firewalls and using AI to break down defenses. Protecting client data and company secrets requires vendor help and an expert IT team to monitor databases.
