In today’s integrated business landscape, companies rely heavily on third parties for several reasons — increasing efficiency and reducing costs being some of them.
But… how can you ensure you choose the right, reliable third-party company?
Well, it is a challenging, time-consuming task because the list of potential vendors can grow quickly, making the selection process confusing and exhausting.
Also, finding trustworthy third parties is complicated because companies operate in a complex, highly-interconnected ecosystem with various customers, partners, and vendors where everyone is accessing and sharing each other’s key information.
More importantly, as efficient and cost-effective as this ecosystem can be, it opens your organization to more challenges and threats, such as:
- Reputational risks
- Legal Risks
- Privacy risks
- Financial risks
- Cybersecurity risks
As a response, Mastercard is hoping to help you and as many companies as possible mitigate these threats.
The giant, New York-based card brand has launched the Global Cybersecurity Alliance Program. The goal is to help organizations secure their interrelated ecosystems from the growing third-party cyber risks they face.
“Mastercard’s Global Cybersecurity Alliance Program is an ambitious effort to help businesses manage their cyber risks.” Stephanie Watkins, Senior Vice President, Global Product Owners, HSB, part of Munich Re, said in this press release.
What is Mastercard’s Global Cybersecurity Alliance Program, and how can it help you
According to Mastercard’s projections, 60% of cyberattacks come in through outside third-party vendors. Also, research from RiskRecon and Cyentia Institute (sponsored by Mastercard) showed that “multi-party cyber breaches can cause 26 times more financial damage, compared with an attack that affects only one target.”
Understanding your third-party vendors is time-consuming because it relies on examining various elements that contribute to the company’s overall risk. However, for most businesses, getting their own risk rating has become increasingly important. Mainly because more customers look at the vendor’s risk profile as a condition of doing business.
Mastercard’s program offers a cybersecurity risk rating that will provide vital insights into the health of your digital ecosystems, promoting better understanding and action on your organization’s risks. The purpose is to build a scalable, third-party risk reduction program.
In essence:
These cybersecurity ratings will help you make better vendor selection decisions. More importantly, hold existing vendors accountable for managing their cyber risks.
Furthermore, this cybersecurity rating platform will allow you to make risk decisions quickly and confidently, how? Providing scores that analyze real-world cybersecurity risk management quality.
“As the digital landscape evolves, it is becoming more interconnected.” Johan Gerber, executive vice president of security and cyber innovation for Mastercard, said in the release. Gerber added: “Businesses of all shapes and sizes are now working with more companies than ever before to access the services and support they need. Protecting these complex ecosystems can be extremely challenging.”
Mastercard is aiming to invest in new technologies and programs to help organizations manage their cyber risks across extended ecosystems. The company mentioned the following:
“The Global Cybersecurity Alliances Program is designed to help more organizations arm their customers with the cyber risk intelligence they need to confidently make better and faster risk decisions.”
Who is part of the alliance?
Since it started, the Global Cybersecurity Alliance Program has gained momentum and expanded its alliance partners. The alliance includes StandardFusion, Aravo, Archer, Argos Risk, ComplyScore, CyberGRX, Deloitte, EY, HSB / Munich Re, Interos, Kroll, LogicGate, OneTrust, Privva, ProcessUnity, TealBook, Tech Mahindra, Venminder, Whistic, Wipro and other organizations across the most highly regulated industries.
StandardFusion Joining The Alliance
StandardFusion has joined the alliance to keep improving our clients’ risk management systems. The aim is to empower you to handle even the most complex third-party challenges.
Whether you outsource your business’s activities to save money or looking for the expertise you currently don’t have in-house, you must ensure your vendors keep up with your quality expectations.
How can you do that?
With our RiskRecon integration. Now, StandardFusion customers can access rating information to make faster and more informed decisions about their third-party vendors.
For example, users create controls based on policies that govern third-party risk scores, which greatly speeds up vendor evaluation and auditing.
Want better risk management?
See how StandardFusion helps users identify risks, assess them and manage their mitigation efforts, all in a simple, easy to use application that increases visibility and decreases your workload.
Evaluating vendor weaknesses that could result in data breaches or data leaks will be much faster. Mainly because all the data is already included in StandardFusion’s platform.
To get more information about our risk management solution and how you can leverage RiskRecon third-party ratings, connect with our team at StandardFusion.
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