Technical Due Diligence: Assessing Cyber Risks in Technology Partners

Can you name five software tools you and your team rely on for day-to-day operations?

While technology partners are essential for smooth operations, they also bring new cyber risks, exposing organizations to various threats. CISOs face multiple challenges in safeguarding their organization, ranging from persistent threat of data breaches and unauthorized access to the complex third-party and supply chain vulnerabilities.

These challenges are further compounded by stringent regulatory requirements, resource constraints, and the constant evolution of cyber adversaries and tactics.

In this blog, we will explore the key components of Technical Due Diligence and how it can help assess cyber risks in technology partners.

Understanding Technical Due Diligence

Technical Due Diligence is a critical process that involves evaluating the cybersecurity posture of technology partners and third-party vendors. It is an essential component of the overall due diligence process and helps organizations identify potential vulnerabilities and threats in their technology ecosystem.

The benefits of conducting Technical Due Diligence for an organization include:

• Identifying potential vulnerabilities and threats in their technology partners and third-party vendors.
• Ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Mitigating the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access.
• Building trust and confidence with technology partners and third-party vendors.

Key Components of Technical Due Diligence

To effectively assess cyber risks in technology partners, technical due diligence should cover the following critical components:

1. Security policies and procedures – Evaluate the technology partner’s security policies and procedures to ensure they align with industry best practices and regulatory requirements.
2. Network architecture and infrastructure – Assess partner’s network architecture and infrastructure to identify potential vulnerabilities and threats.
3. Data management and protection – Evaluate data management and protection practices to ensure they meet regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
4. Incident response and disaster recovery – Assess their incident response and disaster recovery capabilities to ensure they can effectively respond to and recover from cyber incidents.
5. Access controls and authentication – Evaluate the technology partner’s access controls and authentication practices to ensure they are secure and effective.
6. Third-party vendor management – Assess partner’s third-party vendor management practices to ensure they are secure and effective.

Assessing Cyber Risks and Best Practices for Technical Due Diligence

We have already covered the key components required for technical due diligence, let us learn how to assess cyber risks in technology partners. Irrespective of the different tools and technologies used by organizations, when it comes to technical due diligence in cybersecurity, there are several best practices to keep in mind. Here are some of them:

1. Start pre-negotiation – Discover possible cyber risks at an early stage for a more strategic security posture or consider other substitutes.
2. OSINT gathering – Perform open-source intelligence gathering to discover where an organization is exposed.
3. Vulnerability assessment – Evaluate the technology partner’s digital infrastructure to identify whether systems are patched and current.
4. Identify threats – Continuously monitor the deep, dark and surface web to identify potential attack surfaces and threats.
5. Evaluate security controls – Conduct ongoing assessments of technology partner’s security controls to ensure they are effective and up to date.
6. Assess security posture – Continually evaluate the partner’s security posture and culture to ensure they are committed to cybersecurity.
7. Indicators of compromise assessment – Perform a compromise assessment to identify anything that suggests there are unauthorized users or activity within an organization’s network.
8. Collaborate with stakeholders – Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive assessment of the technical infrastructure.
9. Standard assessment frameworks – Use standardized assessment tools and frameworks to ensure a consistent and thorough assessment.

How An Active Attack Path Discovery Platform Help

An attack path discovery platform serves as an essential tool to proactively help in assessing cyber risks and the technical due diligence process. CyberMindr is an automated and active attack path discovery platform that enables Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM). By offering comprehensive insights, CyberMindr empowers CISOs to stay one step ahead of the ever-present threats to their organization’s cybersecurity.

From pre-implementation threat discovery, open-source data gathering, vulnerability and exposure analysis, deep and dark web scans, evaluating security controls to identifying indicators of compromise, the CyberMindr platform does it all at a single click. It can help organizations choose and implement technology that is relevant and safe to use.