Vendor Risk Assessment
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You Can Outsource Work. You Can't Outsource Risk.
60% of data breaches originate from a third party. We evaluate, monitor, and manage the security posture of your vendors so you don't inherit their vulnerabilities.
Your security is only as strong as your weakest vendor. Whether it’s a payroll processor, a cloud host, or a marketing agency, every third party you share data with expands your attack surface. Our Vendor Risk Assessment services take the burden of vendor due diligence off your plate. We vet your suppliers, analyze their controls, and ensure they meet your security standards before you sign.
Assess My Vendors!
What is a Vendor Risk Assessment?
How each third-party vendor can get you breached, ranking them by real-world impact, and forcing them to prove their controls.
A Vendor Risk Assessment (or Third-Party Risk Assessment) is the process of identifying and evaluating the risks associated with outsourcing a business process to an external company.
It answers the question:Â “Is this vendor safe to trust with our data?”
We review their security policies, compliance certifications (like SOC 2 or ISO 27001), and technical history to assign a “Risk Score.” If they fail to meet the standard, we help you negotiate stronger security terms or advise you to walk away.
What Requires a Vendor Risk Assessment?
TPRM is no longer a nice to have. It is a regulatory and business mandate:
Regulatory Compliance
BAAs for HIPAA, processor mishandling for GDPR / CCPA, and managing compliance of service providers for PCI.
Client Contracts
Your enterprise customers likely include a clause demanding that you vet your downstream sub-processors.
Supply Chain Attacks
High-profile breaches (SolarWinds) have proven that hackers target smaller vendors to get into larger companies.
New Procurement
Your procurement team needs a “Go/No-Go” security decision before buying new software.
Types of Vendor Risk Assessments We Perform
We categorize vendors based on criticality (Tier 1, 2, 3) and apply the appropriate level of scrutiny.
| Assessment Type | Description |
| Questionnaire-Based Assessment | We manage the sending and scoring of industry-standard questionnaires (SIG, CAIQ, VSA). |
| Evidence-Based Validation | We don’t just trust their “Yes” answers, we review their artifacts (reports, pentests, BCPs). |
| Continuous Monitoring (OSINT) | We use non-intrusive scanning tools to monitor the vendor’s external security posture in real-time. |
| On-Site Audit (Tier 1 Critical Vendors) | We physically visit their location to inspect physical security, server rooms, and access controls. |
What Our VRM Service Includes
We act as an extension of your GRC team.
Defensible Due Diligence: The Deliverables
We provide the documentation you need to prove you did your homework.
Vendor Risk Scorecard
A single-page summary rating the vendor (A-F) based on their controls.
Assessment Report
A detailed breakdown of findings (e.g., “Vendor does not encrypt data at rest”).
Remediation Tracking
A log of the issues the vendor agreed to fix and the deadlines for fixing them.
Annual Re-Assessment Schedule
A calendar for when each vendor needs to be assessed and reviewed again.
Why Choose Us for Your Vendor Risk Assessment?
We catch the hidden carve-outs and qualified opinions that tools miss, deliver answers in days instead of months, and help scale to 500+ vendors without drama.
We Read the Fine Print
Automated tools scan for keywords. We actually read the SOC 2 report to find the “Qualified Opinions” or “Carve Outs” that vendors try to hide.
Turnaround Speed
We turn around vendor assessments in days, not months, preventing “Security” from being the bottleneck in your sales/procurement cycle.
Scalable Solution
Whether you have 5, 500, or 5000 vendors, our managed service model scales to handle the volume your organization needs.
Our Certifications
Our team holds industry-recognized certifications that reflect hands-on expertise across offensive security, cloud, incident response, and compliance.
Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN)
GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester (GCPN)
GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester (GCPN)
CompTIA Security+, Network+, A+, Pentest+
GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH)
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CCP)
Microsoft AZ-900, SC-900
Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
Burp Suite Certified Practitioner (Apprentice)
eLearnSecurity Junior (eJPT)
Web App Penetration Tester (eWPT)
Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
Palo Alto PSE Certifications
Vendor Risk Assessment: FAQs
Learn more information about the most frequently asked questions
What if a vendor refuses to answer the questionnaire?
This is a red flag. However, we have strategies to handle this. We can often leverage public information (SOC 2, Trust Centers) to fill in the gaps. If they still refuse, we provide a “Risk Acceptance” memo for your leadership to sign, acknowledging the blindness.
Do you assess ALL our vendors?
Usually, no. That is inefficient. We help you Tier your vendors. You only need deep assessments for Tier 1 (Critical Data Access) and Tier 2 (Business Critical) vendors. Tier 3 (the landscaping company) generally doesn’t need a cyber risk assessment.
What is the difference between VRM and TPM?
They are often used interchangeably. VRM (Vendor Risk Management) focuses on the pre-contract and ongoing risk. TPM (Third-Party Management) is broader, covering performance, SLAs, and financial health. We focus on the Security/Cyber risk aspect.
Can you fill out questionnaires WE receive from our clients?
Yes! That is a separate service called Security Questionnaire Response. We can build a Knowledge Base to help you answer RFPs and Security Assessments faster.
Secure Your Supply Chain.
Don’t let a third party be the cause of your first breach.