Policy Management

Third Party Risk Management

Policy management in third-party risk management (TPRM) refers to establishing, implementing, and enforcing security policies and standards that govern the cybersecurity practices of your third-party vendors and partners. This includes defining acceptable levels of risk, setting security requirements, and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and industry best practices.  

How ThreatNG Helps with Policy Management:

ThreatNG offers a comprehensive suite of features that streamline and enhance policy management in TPRM. Here's how:  

1. Customizable Risk Configuration and Scoring:

  • Aligning with Risk Tolerance: ThreatNG allows you to customize risk configuration and scoring to match your organization's specific risk appetite perfectly. This ensures that your policies accurately reflect your organization's unique needs and priorities.  

  • Example: You can define different risk thresholds for various vendors based on the sensitivity of the data they handle or the criticality of their services.

2. Dynamic Entity Management:

  • Tracking Relevant Entities: ThreatNG's dynamic entity management allows you to define and track any person, place, or entity relevant to your security posture, including brand names and third-party vendors. This provides a centralized repository for managing all entities involved in your TPRM program.  

  • Example: You can create detailed profiles for each vendor, including their contact information, security assessments, and compliance status.

3. Exception Management:

  • Granular Control: ThreatNG's exception management provides granular control over what's investigated and monitored. This lets you fine-tune your policies and focus your resources on the most critical areas.  

  • Example: You can exclude certain low-risk vendors from specific security assessments or create exceptions for particular vulnerabilities mitigated through compensating controls.

4. Pre-built Policy Templates:

  • Jumpstarting Policy Development: ThreatNG offers pre-built policy templates that can be customized to meet your specific needs. This accelerates the policy development process and ensures consistency across your TPRM program.  

5. Continuous Monitoring and Reporting:

  • Enforcing Policies: ThreatNG's continuous monitoring and reporting capabilities help enforce your security policies by providing real-time visibility into your vendors' security posture and alerting you to policy violations.  

  • Example: If a vendor fails to meet the minimum security requirements defined in your policy, ThreatNG will generate an alert, allowing you to take corrective action.

Complementary Solutions and Services:

  • GRC Platforms: Integrating ThreatNG with a Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platform can provide a centralized view of your organization's overall policy landscape and help you manage policy lifecycles.

  • Policy Management Software: Dedicated policy management software can help you create, store, and disseminate your security policies to your vendors.  

  • Legal Counsel: Consulting with legal counsel can help ensure that your security policies align with relevant laws and regulations.  

Examples with Investigation Modules:

  • Domain Intelligence: ThreatNG's domain intelligence module can be used to verify that vendors are complying with your email security policies by checking for the presence of DMARC, SPF, and DKIM records.

  • Sensitive Code Exposure: This module can help enforce your data security policies by identifying vendors inadvertently exposing sensitive information in public code repositories.

  • Cloud and SaaS Exposure: ThreatNG can identify if vendors use unsanctioned cloud services that violate your cloud security policies.  

  • Dark Web Presence: Monitoring the dark web for mentions of your vendors can help you identify potential policy violations and data breaches.

By effectively utilizing ThreatNG's policy management features and integrating with complementary solutions, organizations can establish a robust framework for governing the cybersecurity practices of their third-party vendors, minimizing their exposure to risk and ensuring compliance with relevant standards and regulations.