Are You At Risk from Your Outsourced Software Provider

The “Cloud” is the eponymous name given for a computer server that belongs to another person or company that you have no control over. There are many companies who offer computing services to businesses that the businesses do not have the capability of securing and it is causing a myriad of problems for them. With regulators enforcing cybersecurity regulations on businesses, it will not be the service provider who is liable when data is lost or stolen, it will be the company who hired them. Although you can outsource functionality you cannot outsource liability. Outside service providers are known as third-party providers and it is difficult at best to evaluate their level of security. They are being targeted by hackers, other cybercriminals and even nation-state actors — and many times they are found to not be fully compliant with the regulations. Many times they rely on different micro-services provided to them by other parties (fourth or fifth party providers to you.) Security is a complex issue and is getting more involved with each new technological advancement. All it takes is a simple misconfiguration on the server that provides these applications can create an exploitable vulnerability and because they are connected to your network, you are at risk. Today’s applications are far more complex than those available 3-5 years ago. Businesses must understand the risk they face by using these services and must develop a program for securing their data when using them.