Opus, the leading provider of innovative global compliance and risk management solutions, launched a new SaaS solution to help companies to identify and manage information security risks within their third party relationships. The solution is now live and available in the US, Europe and Asia.

Although companies spend millions of dollars to protect their IT infrastructure from cyber hacks –$73.7 billion in 2016 according to IDC – their external vendors and partners put them most at risk. According to Trustwave’s cyber security report, 63% of data breaches are linked to third parties. Additionally, new regulations are putting greater responsibility on enterprises to manage their third party risks, increasing governance and cost pressures. 

Opus’ new Information Security solution automates the business process of auditing how third parties measure up against a company’s control framework, be it a recognized industry standard such as NIST or their own. All stages of the information security process can be managed within the platform, from the initial scoping of controls through to the gathering of evidence, assessing control effectiveness and gap remediation. The solution includes easy reporting on third party risk and monitors third party relationships for risk profile changes.

Benefits of the solution include:

·    Recognized information security control frameworks such as NIST, ISO and AUP built in, allowing for easy adaptation of accepted standards

·    Automation of manual processes, minimizing inconsistencies and errors while increasing efficiency of information security assessments

·    Management of all potential threats from third party vendors, distributors and partners across the enterprise

·    Integration with leading third party security ratings providers such as RiskRecon to support the ongoing monitoring of third party risk, alerting appropriate users when a review or remediation is needed

·    Scalable, enterprise solution is quickly implemented and allows seamless incorporation of existing tools and technology

Dov Goldman, Vice President of Innovation and Alliances for Opus says, “We have found that many companies are taking information security extremely seriously when it comes to their own internal infrastructure, but are unsure how to effectively manage their external relationships. For companies to free their business from the uncertainty of their third party relationships and protect their confidential and sensitive data, it is key to understand where third party vulnerabilities lie.  Our Information Security solution was designed with direct client input from Chief Information Security Officers and IT vendor risk managers. It helps their companies to identify those weak links and ensure that proper protocols are in place to best protect their business from infiltration.”