Third-Party Risk Ratings
Assessment scores of vendors and partners based on their security posture
Current Value
3.6/5
+0.4 from previous period
Industry average: 3.2/5
Calculation Method
Average risk scores from vendor assessment questionnaires (1-5 scale) and continuous monitoring tools
Significance
This KPI measures the security posture of your third-party ecosystem, highlighting vendors that may introduce risk to your organization.
What are Third-Party Risk Ratings?
Third-Party Risk Ratings quantify the cybersecurity risk posed by vendors and partners with access to your systems or data. With supply chain attacks increasing, vendor risk management has become critical to overall security posture.
How it's calculated
Ratings are derived from:
- Security questionnaire responses (weighted by criticality)
- Evidence of security controls (certifications, audit reports)
- Continuous monitoring data (vulnerability scans, threat intelligence)
- Historical incident data
Scores are normalized on a 1-5 scale where 1 represents high risk and 5 represents low risk.
Why it matters
Risk exposure: 60-70% of data breaches involve third parties. Poor vendor security creates backdoors to your organization.
Compliance requirements: Many regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.) specifically require vendor risk management.
Business continuity: Third-party security incidents can disrupt critical services your business depends on.
Performance trends
Average vendor risk ratings over the last 12 months show steady improvement, primarily in high-risk vendors with direct access to critical systems.