Finding and rooting out Log4j vulnerability instances across all industries and types of organizations has proven to be a considerable challenge. We’ve written extensively about it. Many customers are asking about Log4j vulnerability and mitigation in light of this worldwide issue. If you’re asking yourself, “Is my supply chain safe, and are any of my vendors putting my organization at risk?” read on to learn how to identify potentially vulnerable vendors and act on them proactively.
How to Remediate the Log4j Vulnerability
For many security teams, it’s been all hands on deck since the Apache Log4j zero day vulnerability came to light. Experts say the flaw may be the most serious security vulnerability to have emerged in years.
In case you haven’t yet, install the patch to update Log4j —any internet-facing server that’s vulnerable must be updated.
For some organizations, it may be hard to track down vulnerable servers, as they don’t have a clear accounting of every program they use and the software components within each of those systems. If you add third party risk (TPRM) to the equation and consider the servers and software from your vendors and their vendors, potential risk exposure goes up.
But if you’re a ThirdPartyTrust customer, being proactive with security issues like the Log4j vulnerability is made easier thanks to our strategic partnership with BitSight.
Using ThirdPartyTrust & BitSight to identify vulnerable vendors and enforce your risk assessments
Third party risk managers need to provide a comprehensive view of the risk that third parties represent and the risk a new third party may introduce to the business, while reassessing third parties periodically throughout the vendor lifecycle. But as a vendor yourself, you may also need to prove to potential customers that you are safe to do business with, by complying with security reviews.
Whatever your case may be, ThirdPartyTrust customers with Bitsight licenses may access the Bitsight Platform through ThirdPartyTrust to:
- Quickly identify third parties in your supply chain using Java-based servers that may be vulnerable to Log4j in order to better understand the scope of impact to your vendor portfolio
- Verify that you, as a third party provider, are not vulnerable
Performing this quick check can help you focus on the highest risks and follow up on your riskiest vendors.
In addition, ThirdPartyTrust has developed a brief Log4j Vulnerability Impact Questionnaire that customers can use.
- If you are an enterprise business doing TPRM, send out this new questionnaire to your vendors to assess their exposure and the potential impact on your business. If a vendor is vulnerable, make sure to ask for additional requirements and assurances right away, tracking those within the tool.
- If you are a vendor using the Beacon tool to respond to risk assessments, complete this new questionnaire as part of your security profile and share it proactively, showing your customers that you take security seriously and are being diligent to mitigate any vulnerability.
These questionnaires can be customized to meet your specific compliance needs. The ability to rapidly create and distribute a simple questionnaire like this among your vendors allows you to react to potential new threats and can make the difference between business as usual and business continuity issues.
The ThirdPartyTrust tool is equipped with flexible fit-for-purpose third party risk management features, which easily adapt to help you stay ahead of any sudden events like the Log4j vulnerability. The same logic applies to any other zero-day events: acting fast to reinforce vendor controls when needed, in order to secure your supply chain.
Benefits of the ThirdPartyTrust and Bitsight Partnership For You
By subscribing to any of Bitsight’s licenses thanks to our strategic partnership, ThirdPartyTrust users can directly integrate BitSight’s Ratings and Vectors into our TPRM automation platform and map BitSight data to standard assessment questionnaires to highly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of third party risk assessments.
Some of the benefits of our joint solution include:
- Merging two processes: Leverage the ThirdPartyTrust platform to automate your third party risk management process and easily incorporate objective security ratings and risk vector data into vendor assessments to provide better assurance that third parties are within your organization’s risk appetite.
- Reduce the volume of assessments: Quickly assess your vendor portfolio to decide if an in-depth vendor risk assessment is required.
- Improve the quality of assessments: Make third party risk assessments more efficient by validating subjective responses with objective security ratings and risk vector data, quicker and at scale.
Let us show you how ThirdPartyTrust can help you reduce risk and stay ahead of zero day events. Talk to an expert to see the tool for yourself today.
TPRM Checklist: How secure is your third party network?
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