Third-Party Risks: The Overlooked Threat in Cybersecurity & Data Protection

In consideration to the drastic increase in cyber crimes worldwide , Government and Organisations have geared up unanimously to implement and adapt practices related to Information Security, Data Protection and other IT governance framework.

However even if a company follows all governance and cybersecurity best practices, it remains vulnerable when collaborating with third-party vendors, service providers, or partners who have access to its data.

From my experience during Gap Assessments, many renowned companies acknowledge that they often overlook the importance of securing their data when engaging with third-party service providers. They tend to assume that these third parties follow secure practices for handling their data and customer information—without conducting thorough verification.

To ensure data security and regulatory compliance, the company must implement a Third-Party Governance framework with the following key strategies:

? Vendor Risk Assessment & Due Diligence

• Conduct a comprehensive security assessment before onboarding any third-party service provider.
• Review their security policies, compliance certifications (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, PDPL), and incident response capabilities.
• Check for past data breaches or security vulnerabilities.

? Strong Legal & Contractual Protections

• Draft Data Processing Agreements (DPA) outlining the responsibilities of both parties.
• Include strict security clauses (e.g., encryption, access controls, data retention policies).
• Add liability clauses ensuring the third party is accountable in case of a data breach.

? Least Privilege & Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

• Limit data access based on the principle of least privilege (PoLP)—only grant necessary permissions.
• Use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to restrict unauthorized access.
• Regularly review and revoke unused access.

? Data Encryption & Secure Data Sharing

• Ensure all data shared with third parties is encrypted.
• Sensitive customer information should be exchanged through Data Masking/Tokenization
• Implement Zero Trust Security to prevent unauthorized access.

? Continuous Monitoring & Audit Controls

• Deploy Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools to monitor third-party activities.
• Schedule regular security audits and penetration testing.

? Compliance with Regulatory Standards

• Ensure third parties comply with UAE PDPL, GDPR, CCPA, or other relevant laws.
• Require third-party security certifications and compliance reports.

? Third-Party Incident Response Plan

• Ensure that vendors have a clear incident response plan in case of a data breach.
• Conduct simulated breach exercises (e.g., DR drills, tabletop exercises).

? Off boarding & Data Retention Policies

• Implement secure offboarding procedures when terminating partnerships.
• Ensure third parties delete or return company data after contract termination.
• Regularly review data retention policies to prevent unnecessary exposure.

In the end, It is critical for companies to lay strong awareness on following the secure practices while interacting and integrating with third party providers because data needs to be secured everywhere and at all platforms, one loophole can lead to irreversible damage both monetary and market reputation.