Due diligence and security questionnaires have become staples of the vendor risk assessment process for third-party risk management (TPRM). However, as the cybersecurity landscape evolves, our tools must evolve, too. Due diligence questionnaires remain a necessary component but the overreliance on static security questionnaires has become a barrier to effective risk management.
Due diligence questionnaires are designed to answer critical, relationship-specific questions.
These questions go beyond generic cybersecurity concerns, focusing on the unique aspects of the partnership. They help organizations understand the relationship and ensure that appropriate safeguards align with its specifics. Due diligence questionnaires are a necessary foundation for establishing trust and setting expectations.
Security questionnaires often fall short. These standardized forms ask third parties to provide detailed information about their cybersecurity practices.
While these are important topics, the format of traditional questionnaires introduces several issues.
Security questionnaires provide a snapshot in time that quickly becomes outdated. A vendor might submit a completed questionnaire today, but their environment, controls, or threat landscape could change tomorrow.
These forms are often disconnected from the specifics of the relationship. For example, knowing that a vendor uses encryption is less relevant if the relationship doesn’t involve handling sensitive data.
Completing and reviewing lengthy questionnaires is time-consuming for both parties, creating bottlenecks that slow down procurement and vendor risk assessments.
Organizations may treat completed questionnaires as a substitute for meaningful engagement, creating a false sense of security without truly understanding the risks.
Questionnaires are typically developed by the staff at the requesting organization. The staff may lack the expertise to evaluate control selection or even the ability to interpret the results/responses to the questions.
To move forward, organizations must reimagine the role of questionnaires in TPRM.
Focus on due diligence to capture relationship-specific insights. These questions matter most for tailoring your risk management approach to the specific vendor or partner.
Instead of relying on static forms, leverage real-time threat intelligence, continuous monitoring, and assessments that incorporate threat data into the control selection to understand a vendor’s security posture.
Engage with third parties to address risks collaboratively. Move beyond filling out forms to having meaningful discussions about risks, mitigations, and shared goals.
Adopt frameworks and framework bodies that actively collaborate on reciprocity to reduce redundancy and streamline the process for vendors managing multiple client requests.
Due diligence questionnaires remain a vital part of TPRM because they provide relationship-specific details needed to assess and manage risks effectively. Security questionnaires, however, need a modern overhaul. By transitioning from static, checklist-driven approaches to dynamic, real-time methods, organizations can focus on what truly matters: building resilient partnerships that mitigate risks and enable business growth.
It’s time to retire the outdated questionnaire model and embrace a more effective, efficient, and adaptive approach to TPRM. After all, managing third-party risks isn’t about ticking boxes — it’s about protecting your organization in an interconnected world.