How to Make Sure Your Vendors Are as Secure as They Say

June 2, 2025

You rely on your vendors to conduct business, but these vendors are just as susceptible to cyberattacks as your business is. How can you make sure you’re working with vendors who prioritize security? That’s what we’re covering in today’s blog.

How to Determine Your Vendors’ Level of Security

Know Who You’re Working With

Understand that any vendor you work with will have access to a certain amount of information for your business. Make sure you keep a list of who’s doing what for you, as well as what data they can access. Furthermore, make sure that these vendors are handling that access responsibly, and don’t offer more permissions than necessary.

Do Your Due Diligence

Take some time to get to know your vendors, including how they operate and maintain their security. Use a checklist during these interviews to help you assess their policies and procedures. Remember to base your decisions on what your vendors actually do for security, not what they claim to do, and you should routinely assess whether the current arrangements are working for your organization.

Understand Your Contracts

Comb through any contracts with scrutiny to know what your vendors are liable for in the event of a data breach or other similar cybersecurity incident. The last thing you want is to be caught off-guard by stipulations you weren’t even aware of in the first place, or a vendor shadily (and legally) passing the blame elsewhere.

Operate on a “Need to Know” Basis

Your vendors should also operate under the principle of least privilege, where you only give them access to the tools and resources they absolutely need for their roles and responsibilities. Give them just enough of what they need to provide the services you expect from them. This keeps a cyberattack from disrupting too much should one actually occur.

Go Ahead with Your Plans

Don’t make decisions regarding your vendors haphazardly. If you’re satisfied with a vendor, make sure they stay ahead of trends with security and keep them in the loop should anything change along the way. It also helps to check in with them during any major widespread cybersecurity issue to see what they’re doing about it.

First Column IT can help your business stay ahead of vendor security with our managed services. Learn more today by calling us at (571) 470-5594.

‍

The Business Reality of Hardware Lifecycles

Most business owners treat their office computers like breakroom microwaves: they expect them to work until they physically stop turning on. It’s a logical approach for a toaster, but in the professional world, a computer becomes "old" long before it actually breaks.

April 3, 2026

Why Password Length is More Important Than Complexity

With automated threats on the rise and taking over the cyberthreat landscape, you need as many ways to stay safe online as possible. Naturally, one of the most talked about topics is login security. There’s a lot of good password advice out there, but the most helpful piece isn’t repeated often enough: just make it longer.

April 1, 2026

How to Manage BYOD (Without the Headache)

With smartphones as accessible as they are, it’s no small wonder how company-only policies have all but faded into obscurity in the workplace. Whether you allow it or not, you can bet that your team is using their smartphones to get work done, whether it’s checking email from their couch or sending you a quick DM. In other words, you need a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, as it is practically the new accepted standard.

Welcome to the First Column IT Tech Blog