How Security Teams Use Vendor Security Ratings to Assess Third-Party Risk

Lucas and Luna explore how enterprises are using vendor security ratings — letter-grade scores from firms like SecurityScorecard and BitSight — to assess third-party risk before signing contracts. They walk through a real example: how a mid-sized bank used a rating of 'C' on a cloud storage vendor to push for remediation clauses, saving an estimated $2.3 million in potential breach costs. The episode covers why these ratings matter, how they're calculated (external scanning, breach databases, user behavior), and the controversy around false positives when a small vendor gets downgraded for a non-exploitable open port. Lucas also shares data showing that 63% of data breaches now originate through third-party vendors. The conversation ties back to the broader shift from trusting vendor self-assessments to continuous, data-driven monitoring. #VendorSecurityRatings #ThirdPartyRisk #SecurityScorecard #BitSight #CyberRating #SupplyChainSecurity #VendorAssessment #ContinuousMonitoring #AttackSurface #CyberInsurance #CISO #EnterpriseSecurity #VendorRisk #BreachCost #FalsePositive #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo