Growing Demands For Vendor Security And Controls Accountability

It's not surprising that cybersecurity is top of mind for boards, management and regulatory organizations, when tracked data breaches in the U.S. in 2015 totaled 781, the second highest on record since 2005, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Consequently, businesses and vendors are increasingly being held accountable for transparency into their security and controls.

Remain a Trusted Vendor

Within the health care industry, for example, organizations are compelling their business associates and service organizations to provide this information through specific questionnaires or assessment documents. Claims management and processing companies, printing and mailing businesses, customer call centers and IT data centers, among others, may receive countless amounts of these requests annually. It takes significant time and effort to complete these requests, but otherwise vendors risk losing their trusted position.