Question: Are third-party and vendor incidents integrated into the organization’s response and escalation workflow?
Why This Matters
Third-party compromises can impact your data and operations even if your systems are unharmed. Coordinated response ensures timely containment, communication, and accountability across supply chains.
Maturity
0 — Unaware
No visibility or procedure for vendor incidents.
No visibility or procedure for vendor incidents.
1 — Ad Hoc
Handled reactively when vendor informs you.
Handled reactively when vendor informs you.
2 — Defined
Escalation contact for each critical vendor documented.
Escalation contact for each critical vendor documented.
3 — Managed
Vendor incident clause in contracts; periodic drills conducted.
Vendor incident clause in contracts; periodic drills conducted.
4 — Integrated
Joint incident channels and evidence exchange procedures in place.
Joint incident channels and evidence exchange procedures in place.
5 — Optimized
Real-time vendor incident feeds and coordinated SOAR workflows.
Real-time vendor incident feeds and coordinated SOAR workflows.
How to Level Up
| From → To | Actions |
|---|---|
| 0 → 1 | Request vendors to disclose incidents impacting you. |
| 1 → 2 | Maintain contact list and escalation matrix per vendor. |
| 2 → 3 | Include notification SLA in contracts; run joint tabletop once a year. |
| 3 → 4 | Establish secure info-exchange and evidence templates. |
| 4 → 5 | Integrate vendor feeds into SOC correlation rules. |
Enablers
- People: Vendor Manager, Legal, SOC Lead
- Process: Third-party escalation, communication, and post-review
- Technology: Secure portals, encrypted email, ticket integration
Evidence
- Vendor incident procedure
- Communication records or joint drill reports
- Updated vendor risk register
KPIs
- Number of critical vendors with IR clauses
- Time to notify vendor incidents
- Number of joint exercises completed
Low-Cost / Open-Source Options (MSME)
| Purpose | Tool | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking | Odoo / Airtable | Vendor risk register and incident log |
| Secure exchange | Nextcloud / ProtonMail | Encrypted evidence sharing |
| Automation | n8n / Zapier | Incident intake from vendors |
Common Pitfalls
- Reliance on email notifications only
- No ownership for third-party incidents
- Vendor drills never performed
Compliance Mapping
| Standard | Clauses / Notes |
|---|---|
| ISO/IEC 27001:2022 | A.5.19 (Supplier Security) |
| CERT-In 2022 | Section 35 (Third-Party Handling) |
| DPDP Act 2023 | Sec 10 (Accountability Chain) |
| NIST CSF 2.0 | ID.SC / RS.CO |
| NIRMATA Mapping | IR-Q09 links vendor resilience to incident governance. |