Managing third-party vendor access is one of the biggest security challenges today's organizations face. Businesses depend on external vendors for IT support, cloud services, and infrastructure maintenance, but granting access to these critical systems can leave your network vulnerable to several security risks.
Remote privileged access management (RPAM) offers a comprehensive solution to these problems. Read on to learn how businesses are strengthening their supply chain security with RPAM for third-party vendors.
Organizations typically work with multiple external vendors who require access to sensitive systems. While this access is necessary, it also introduces risks like:
Cybercriminals frequently target vendors with less robust security measures as entry points into larger organizations, with a recent report from Ponemon Institute revealing that 47% of organizations experienced a breach or attack involving third-party privileged access in 2024.1
If a vendor's credentials fall into the wrong hands, attackers can gain privileged access to their critical infrastructure – which they can exploit to infiltrate your network. For example, a manufacturing plant might need to halt operations entirely if a third-party vendor's compromised credentials allow attackers to access industrial control systems, potentially causing production downtime while simultaneously risking damage to sensitive equipment.
Not all risks originate from external hackers. Employees of third-party vendors with excessive privileges might intentionally or accidentally misuse their access, leading to potential data breaches or disruptions in your operations.
Regulations like GDPR, PCI-DSS, and ISO 27001 demand strict control over who can access sensitive data. Failing to manage third-party access properly can put your business at risk of non-compliance with these regulations, resulting in legal consequences and financial penalties.
Many organizations struggle to track vendor activity across multiple systems. Security teams can't effectively protect what they can't see, so without session monitoring and comprehensive audit logs, it's impossible to know what actions vendors perform inside your network.
RPAM offers a secure, centralized approach for managing third-party vendor access with features like:
RPAM lets businesses assign role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure vendors only have the minimum level of access needed for their specific tasks. RBAC does this by:
With RPAM, your organization maintains complete control over who accesses what, when, and for how long, creating a more secure vendor management framework.
RPAM solutions monitor vendor sessions in real-time and record all activities performed within critical systems. This monitoring capability transforms your security posture from reactive to proactive.
Your team gains immediate awareness of potential security issues and maintains complete visibility into third-party activities, reducing your mean time to detect and respond to threats.
RPAM eliminates the need to share static credentials with vendors by storing and encrypting privileged credentials in a secure vault. This strengthens third-party vendor access management by:
RPAM's approach to credential management prevents many common attack vectors that may target your vendors' passwords and authentication systems.
Organizations in finance, healthcare, and other regulated industries must meet strict data security and access control requirements. RPAM simplifies compliance by:
These compliance capabilities save your team countless hours of manual documentation while providing stronger evidence of security controls.
With third-party vendor access presenting risks for many organizations, supply chain security matters more than ever. RPAM addresses these challenges by letting you limit what vendors can see and do, watch their activities, and keep detailed records of their actions. Attackers can no longer use vendor credentials as entry points into your systems, making supply chain attacks much less likely.
At Safous, we understand the importance of protecting your business from supply chain attacks. Our Zero Trust Access (ZTA) solution integrates RPAM features to help enterprises protect, control, and monitor remote access to privileged accounts. Safous ZTA makes it simple to safeguard your critical systems with a user-friendly interface that combines remote privileged access management with multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and other essential security features.
Reach out today to see how Safous can strengthen your supply chain security and safeguard your critical systems from unauthorized access.
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