RiskBusters™ Reveal: TPRM Is More Than a Technical Problem, It’s a Business Imperative

Written by: Jeffrey Wheatman

When it comes to third-party risk management (TPRM), many organizations treat it as a purely technical issue, relying on cybersecurity teams to handle vendor vulnerabilities and security gaps. However, this mindset often overlooks a critical truth: TPRM is a business problem that requires strategic decisions based on business value, operational impact, and financial risk—not just technical fixes.

That means, you can’t just go throwing a bunch of technical requests over to your vendors’ technical teams. Yet that’s exactly what many TPRM teams do today. They end up sending the vendors a long list of concerns such as open vulnerabilities, missing patches, and other technology threats, believing that the best way forward is for the vendors’ technical teams to take action. How can your vendors possibly handle that workload from you, let alone all the other customers they serve? The truth is, they can’t.

As we reveal in our RiskBusters episode, there is a better way. While technical people play a crucial role in assessing security controls and identifying risks, these insights need to be contextualized within a broader business framework. It’s not just about patching vulnerabilities; it’s about determining which risks have the most significant impact on your business and working collaboratively with vendors to mitigate those risks. The solution? A balanced approach that aligns technical assessments with business priorities.

Let’s dig deeper into the facts. 

3 Facts About the Importance of TRPM for Businesses

Fact: Organizations are being targeted through their third-parties.

What You Should Know:

• Zero-day vulnerabilities allow mass exploitation.
• Third-party vendors are now prime targets for cybercriminals.
• An increased reliance on vendors increases risk exposure.
• A single vendor breach can impact many organizations.

With the impact of third-party breaches intensifying with each passing year, we see more and more cases in which vendor relationships become the “way in” for bad actors. The attackers themselves have realized how many of today’s businesses rely heavily on their third-party vendor relationships, and a single breach can cause significant cascading effects. Zero-day vulnerabilities, like the one found in MOVEit last year, make it especially easy for bad actors to exploit dozens of businesses using a single, vulnerable system.

Fact: Not every vulnerability is going to get fixed.

What You Should Know:

• Not every vulnerability poses a serious risk to your business.
• Assess financial and operational impacts first.
• Prioritize the vulnerabilities that matter most.
• Focus resources on high-impact issues.

When it comes to managing third-party risk, not every vulnerability is equal, and not every risk requires immediate action. The key to effective risk management is understanding the potential impact of vulnerabilities on your business. By using contextual intelligence, you can assess the financial, operational, and reputational costs of leaving certain risks unaddressed. This allows business stakeholders to prioritize vulnerabilities based on their potential impact, rather than overwhelming vendors with every issue.

With a clear understanding of which risks pose the greatest threat to your bottom line, your technical teams and vendors can focus their efforts on mitigating what matters most—ensuring that your resources are used efficiently and effectively.

Fact: It’s possible to overwhelm your vendors with requests.

What You Should Know: 

• Bombarding vendors with issues slows down remediation.
• Vendors may ignore unclear or excessive demands.
• Generic scores or long lists create frustration.
• Overwhelming vendors damages collaboration.

Prioritization is important because many businesses have tried to collaborate with their vendors and been met with silence or inaction. This is often because they go into conversations with existing or prospective vendors expecting them to fix an unfiltered list of security issues. Because after all, they believe that this is simply a technical problem and the vendor has the right technical people to do something about it! Because of this expectation, these businesses end up sending their vendors one of the following documents:

• A): a long list of security concerns (“Hey, we need you to fix these 783 vulnerabilities by next month.”)
• B): a vague SRS risk score (“You scored a D according to X firm. Fix that, or else!”)
• C): a lengthy questionnaire (“We want to make sure that you’re secure enough to meet our compliance requirements. Please take eight hours out of your day to fill in this detailed questionnaire.”)

But when they send this type of vague and/or overwhelming information without a clear idea as to which third-party risks are most pressing to fix, these companies end up sabotaging their relationships with vendors. The vendors either ignore the requests because they don’t know where to start, or the relationship becomes strained. Either way, it’s not the result you’re looking for: action taken to mitigate overall business risk.

Is a secure and collaborative vendor relationship just the stuff of myths and legends?

How can organizations shift away from overwhelming their vendors with technical requests and focus on what really matters—reducing business risk? Watch the video below to find out how aligning technical assessments with business priorities can lead to more effective, collaborative TPRM strategies.

Check Out Episode 4 Now!

Align Third-Party Risk Management with Business Priorities

Managing third-party risk doesn’t have to overwhelm your team—or your vendors. By focusing on business-critical risks and using tools like Black Kite’s Strategy Report, you can guide your vendors toward actionable, prioritized risk remediation steps. With clear communication and a well-defined strategy, you’ll not only protect your business but also foster stronger, more collaborative relationships with your vendors.

And with Black Kite Bridge™️, you can take what you’ve prioritized in the Strategy Report to your vendors with streamlined communication, allowing vendors to easily access your most pressing concerns and providing them with actionable intelligence. This collaborative approach ensures that risk management becomes a shared responsibility, not just a technical burden.

To learn more about turning TPRM into a business-driven process and debunking common myths, watch our latest RiskBusters episode above. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more myth-busting insights into third-party risk management!

To learn more about common TPRM assumptions and see if they’re fact or fiction, subscribe to our YouTube channel so you can catch all of our RiskBusters™️ episodes!