Managing Third Party Risk for Small and Medium Enterprises

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) account for majority of the businesses globally and are a big contributor to employment worldwide. In recent years, SMEs have adopted technology at an unprecedented rate. Even though there are many cybersecurity frameworks available in the industry, SMEs are still defenceless. The vast majority of SMEs still operate without cybersecurity measures and are vulnerable to cyber attacks and a top target by cyber criminals. A large proportion of SMEs rely on service providers from whom they procure services or outsource critical processes in order to serve their customers. The services that are outsourced or procured from third parties make SMEs vulnerable to an important vector of risk called Third Party Risk. Even if SMEs put aside resources and skills for cybersecurity, its priority lies in having basic controls for workstations and servers. Despite being a critical vector of cybersecurity, the majority of SMEs do not manage risks arising from third parties. Managing risks arising from third parties is their least concern. This research paper delves deep into the critical domain of Third Party Risk Management (TPRM), aiming to provide a comprehensive framework for enhancing resiliency and mitigating potential risks rising from outsourcing or procuring services from third parties. This paper provides cybersecurity techniques and methods that are easy to implement for an organization of any scale with limited resources and skills. This paper also includes a few Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that should be used to manage third party risk.