December 17, 2025
Most, if not all, small businesses today depend on third-party apps to help manage and run their services, whether it’s customer payments, data storage, payroll & HR services, etc. These services really boost efficiency and are, frankly, very convenient! However, with the convenience comes additional risk of vulnerabilities. A shocking 35.5% of all recorded breaches in 2024 came through third-party vendors. Thankfully, such risks are manageable for you and your business.
First, it’s crucial to know exactly what the hidden risks are with your third-party vendor accounts and apps. A plug-in that seems harmless could wreak havoc on your business environment if it contains malware or malicious code that will activate once you install it, giving bad actors unauthorized access to your data and interfering with operations. When considering industry or federal compliance laws, it’s possible that you fail to meet standards if your third-party vendor has access to sensitive information and uses it in such a way that was never authorized. This puts you at risk of legal penalties and damage to your reputation as a business. Additionally, if the vendor’s app fails to perform or experiences it’s own downtimes, that will affect your ability to keep up with the pace of your business, causing downtimes of your own and possibly financial losses.
Here are things to consider when looking at third-party vendors:
- Look into their security credentials and certifications, making sure they have a solid reputation. You can even request an audit or penetration test report to make sure they are actively looking for and addressing their own security issues.
- Review their security policies and ask if they encrypt data in transit and/or at rest.
- Make sure they are using modern standards for tokens, that login credentials are required to be regularly changed out, permissions strictly enforced, and tokens kept short-lived.
- Check to see if the vendor offers account login monitoring and alerting, particularly when logging in from an unfamiliar device, as well as login request limits. Don’t be afraid to ask the vendor how they detect their own vulnerabilities and how they have or would respond to cyber threats.
- Know how and where the vendor stores your data and make sure they are following regulations.
- Question how they handle downtimes, data recovery, etc., so you can have peace of mind and won’t be taken by surprise if they experience some kind of issue.
- Request a list of other companies the vendors uses.
It’s important to keep realistic expectations because the truth is, no technology is ever free of all risks. But there are plenty of safeguards and best practices you can put into place to protect your business. At Tech Eagles, we offer you a wide variety of services to keep your business safe, including managed cybersecurity, IT compliance services, data protection, and trusted vendors.
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