Third-party risk management: your vendors are part of your attack surface
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Third-party risk management identifies, assesses and monitors the security, privacy and compliance risks introduced by suppliers and service providers. Loonar designs, implements and sustains TPRM with a vendor inventory, risk-based questionnaires, external exposure monitoring and tracked remediation plans. Decisions stay connected to business impact throughout the supplier relationship.
In short
- Prioritize vendors by business impact.
- Support vendor answers with relevant evidence.
- Reassess risk as relationships change.
How do you know you need third-party risk management?
No shared view of vendor access
Suppliers access systems and process data without a consolidated view of responsibilities. Procurement, legal and technology teams maintain separate records. The organization cannot see which relationships carry the most exposure or who should decide how identified risks are handled.
Questionnaires arrive but go unreviewed
Spreadsheets circulate by email and collect answers without validation. Identical questions reach vendors with very different risk profiles, while supporting evidence expires unnoticed. The process consumes time without creating a reliable basis for approving or restricting a supplier relationship.
Supplier incidents disrupt essential services
A vendor outage can interrupt operations without directly compromising internal infrastructure. Critical dependencies remain hidden, and continuity arrangements go untested or undiscussed. When disruption arrives, teams lack agreed contacts, alternatives and responsibilities for restoring the affected business service.
Contractual obligations lose operational follow-through
Contracts and assessments fail to keep pace with data processing and sector requirements. Financial institutions may also face specific supervisory expectations. Without coordination across legal, privacy and security, unresolved gaps survive onboarding and remain embedded in the operating relationship.
How does it work?
Inventory and criticality classification
Consolidate suppliers, services, access and data processing. Classify business impact, information sensitivity and operational dependencies to determine assessment depth, decision owners and approval criteria for each third-party relationship.
Risk-based questionnaires and evidence
Tailor questionnaires and evidence requests to vendor criticality. Automated workflows track responses and outstanding items, while specialist review checks inconsistencies and prevents approval based solely on unsupported supplier self-assessments.
External exposure monitoring
Monitor public digital footprint signals and potential data leaks associated with assessed vendors. Validate attribution and business context before escalating findings, without presenting external signals as conclusive evidence of compromise.
Data protection contract requirements
Support legal and privacy teams in reviewing contractual safeguards. Address responsibilities, incident notification, subcontracting and termination while respecting each party’s processing role and the need for applicable legal interpretation.
Remediation and recurring reassessment
Record findings, accountable owners, deadlines and remediation evidence. Scheduled reviews and change triggers keep treatment active, with escalation of overdue actions and explicit documentation of accepted risks and approval decisions.
Supplier risk dashboard
Bring criticality, risks, assessments and outstanding actions into an executive view. Procurement, security and business owners can track dependencies and decisions without treating an assessment rating as a security guarantee.
How does Loonar deliver?
Discovery and assessment
Map procurement processes, supplier records, obligations and ownership. Identify critical services, access and processed data to define the initial scope and establish priorities for a practical third-party risk assessment program.
Program design
Loonar designs criticality criteria, questionnaires and decision workflows. Align security, procurement, legal and business teams on required evidence, exception handling and responsibilities throughout onboarding, service delivery and the end of the relationship.
Implementation and integrations
Implement the inventory, assessment workflows and authorized integrations with procurement and contract processes. Validate data, permissions and notifications before launching assessments and expanding coverage to additional supplier groups and services.
Team enablement
Train teams to request evidence, review answers and escalate risk. Practical exercises help procurement leads and service owners understand approval paths, outstanding actions and the follow-up needed to verify corrective work.
Operations and continuous improvement
Sustain monitoring, reassessments and remediation tracking. Service changes, incidents and new access trigger review, while indicators reveal bottlenecks and guide adjustments to classification criteria, evidence requests and operational workflows.
Which technology does Loonar use to deliver it?
What results do we measure?
- Percentage of critical third parties assessed
- Measures valid assessment coverage across suppliers classified as critical.
- Vendor onboarding time
- Tracks elapsed time from assessment initiation to the supplier approval decision.
- Open high risks
- Shows high-rated risks still awaiting treatment or a formally recorded decision.
- On-time reassessments
- Tracks reassessments completed within the review schedule defined for each risk tier.
One-off TPRM or continuous third-party risk management?
An initial assessment needs follow-through as the supplier and the relationship change.
| Aspect | One-off TPRM | Continuous TPRM |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment | Isolated annual questionnaire | Risk-based and event-driven review |
| Evidence | Supplier declarations | Validation proportionate to risk |
| Monitoring | Limited visibility between reviews | External signals assessed in context |
| Treatment | Scattered outstanding items | Owned and tracked remediation plans |
Where do we apply it?
Financial services
Prioritize providers supporting essential services, sensitive data and regulated operations. Connect assessments to the institution’s applicable requirements with input from legal and compliance teams. Keep evidence, decisions and continuity arrangements linked to each supplier, supporting oversight without assuming that every contract requires exactly the same safeguards.
Retail and e-commerce
Assess payment, logistics and platform dependencies that keep sales moving. Criticality reflects service disruption, data exposure and granted access. Tracking corrective actions helps procurement and operations teams negotiate remediation and consider alternatives before a supplier dependency undermines customer experience or prevents essential order processing activities.
Healthcare
Map providers that process sensitive information or support care delivery. Assess data protection, continuity and contractual responsibilities together. Reassessments account for scope changes and subcontracting, giving service owners a structured way to discuss safeguards without mistaking questionnaire responses for assurance that patient information and essential services are protected.
Frequently asked questions
What is TPRM?
TPRM manages risks associated with third parties across selection, contracting, service delivery and termination. It covers security, privacy and compliance in proportion to the service and exposure involved. Loonar designs and implements the program, trains teams and sustains assessments and monitoring. The goal is to support informed decisions and follow through on treatment, rather than simply assign ratings to vendors and file questionnaires.
Which suppliers should we assess first?
Start with providers whose failure could interrupt essential services, expose sensitive data or create privileged access paths. Consider regulatory obligations, operational dependency and how difficult replacement would be. Contract value alone does not determine criticality. An initial inventory helps segment the supplier base and set assessment depth according to business impact, with service owners participating in prioritization and risk treatment decisions.
How does LGPD address processors and other third parties?
LGPD roles depend on actual processing activities, not just the labels used in a contract. A processor handles personal data on behalf of a controller, while an organization may hold different roles across different activities. Assessment should consider instructions, responsibilities, safeguards and subcontracting. Legal and privacy teams determine applicable roles and obligations; TPRM organizes supporting evidence and follows up on agreed measures.
Is a questionnaire enough?
No. A questionnaire provides an initial view, but its value depends on accurate and current answers. For critical suppliers, combine supporting evidence, clarification, contract review and contextualized external signals. Deeper assessment may be needed depending on exposure. Neither a positive answer nor the absence of alerts proves security. Findings need review, accountable owners and treatment plans whose completion can be verified.
How often should suppliers be reassessed?
Frequency depends on supplier criticality, applicable obligations and the pace of service change. Beyond scheduled reviews, incidents, new access, contract changes and subcontracting can trigger an earlier assessment. Define these triggers in the program and track expired evidence. External monitoring helps identify signals worth investigating, but does not replace periodic assessment or direct discussions with the supplier about material changes to its services.
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