Third-Party Cybersecurity Benchmark: Assessing and Securing Your Supply Chain in 2025

Third-party cybersecurity has become a major strategic concern for organizations in 2025. According to AgileBuyer, 65% of procurement departments consider supplier failures a critical risk, while 42% list cyberattacks as their second most pressing concern.

This challenge is especially acute in certain sectors: 88% of heavy industries anticipate major supplier-related risks, and 68% of IT/Telecom companies rank cyber risks as a top priority.

The domino effect of a cyberattack on a key supplier can wreak havoc across the entire supply chain. In response, assessing the cyber maturity of third-party partners is now essential. Collaboration helps identify vulnerabilities and strengthen the operational resilience of the entire ecosystem.

How to Conduct a Third-Party Cybersecurity Benchmark

A third-party cybersecurity benchmark is a strategic initiative to assess and secure your supply chain. This methodology helps identify and manage partner-related risks. 54% of large organizations now cite supply chain vulnerabilities as the main obstacle to cyber resilience.

TPRM-Oriented Definition

Evaluating supplier cyber maturity requires a comprehensive approach that includes technical, organizational, and regulatory aspects. NIST defines cyber supply chain risk as “the potential harm arising from suppliers, their supply chains, their products, or their services.”

Technological Differentiators

The growing complexity of digital ecosystems requires advanced evaluation tools.
An effective third-party risk management program must include:

• A comprehensive inventory of third-party relationships
• A risk categorization per supplier
• Ongoing assessments based on objective indicators

Sector-Specific Challenges

Benchmarking requirements vary significantly by industry:

• Retail must manage risks related to international marketplaces and multi-country e-commerce compliance.
• The financial sector, subject to DORA, must deeply assess critical IT service providers.
• Local governments must ensure transparency and qualify public procurement participants.

Collaborative evaluations help identify sector-specific vulnerabilities. Shared intelligence leads to more relevant risk analysis and optimized third-party monitoring.

Cybersecurity Standards and Frameworks

Assessing third-party cyber maturity relies on recognized frameworks. This ensures an objective evaluation and aligns with emerging regulations like NIS 2, affecting over 150,000 European entities.

International Standards

The ISO 27001:2022 standard defines 93 control measures across three categories: preventive, detective, and corrective. It is a must-have for assessing the robustness of critical supplier protection systems—especially in the public sector where safeguarding sensitive data is essential.

European Regulations

The NIS 2 directive sets a unified cybersecurity framework across 18 critical sectors, with a strong focus on supplier evaluation. Affected organizations must:

• Implement cyber supply chain risk governance
• Regularly assess critical partners
• Continuously monitor third-party security posture

Sector-Specific Certifications

Industrial sectors require certifications like IEC 62443 for automation system security. This standard defines four Security Levels (SL1 to SL4) tailored to the criticality of ICPE installations.

Third-Party Assessment Focus

Standards help structure supplier evaluations around:

• Data/system criticality
• Maturity level required per industry
• Applicable regulatory requirements

This standardized approach strengthens the entire value chain, especially as 42% of procurement leaders view cyber risk as a major concern.

Cyber Maturity Assessment Methodology

Evaluating third-party cyber maturity requires a structured methodology combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. This approach offers a clear view of critical partners’ protection levels.

Collaborative Evaluation Process

Third-party risk scoring is based on an automatic, statistical model integrating:

• Asset and access inventory
• Technical vulnerability analysis
• Governance and process assessment
• Certification and compliance monitoring

Evaluation Criteria

Risk scores are calculated using a matrix combining the likelihood and potential impact of threats, enabling organizations to:

• Quantify risk levels objectively
• Prioritize remediation actions
• Tailor controls based on supplier criticality

Intelligent Workflows

Automated assessment tools streamline the process while ensuring:

• Standardized questionnaires
• Systematic verification of provided evidence
• Continuous monitoring of key risk indicators

Sectoral Illustrations

Evaluation criteria are customized per industry:

• Manufacturing focuses on industrial control system protection and ICPE compliance
• Public sector prioritizes GDPR and citizen data security
• Construction emphasizes subcontractor certification and HSE site compliance

This methodology, tested on over 430,000 third parties, identifies sectoral vulnerabilities and strengthens overall ecosystem protection.

Continuous Third-Party Monitoring: Securing the Supply Chain

Continuous third-party monitoring is essential for supply chain risk governance. A proactive approach helps identify and respond swiftly to emerging threats, as 86% of companies faced a cyberattack in 2024.

Technological Solutions

Automated monitoring of critical partners relies on:

• Real-time configuration and vulnerability analysis
• Behavioral anomaly detection
• Multi-source security alert tracking
• Continuous risk scoring

Operational Benefits

Continuous monitoring improves value chain protection through:

• Early detection of security incidents
• Ongoing regulatory compliance checks
• Follow-up on corrective actions
• Dynamic adaptation of control levels

Sector Focus

In manufacturing, real-time monitoring of critical systems ensures prompt detection of potential compromises. In the public sector, the focus is on continuous protection of sensitive data and GDPR compliance.

Performance Indicators

Monitoring effectiveness is measured via KPIs such as:

• Mean Time to Detect (MTTD)
• Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR)
• Compliance rate with standards
• Third-party risk scores

Permanent monitoring, combined with smart workflows and AI-based documentation analysis, significantly boosts ecosystem resilience.

Aprovall integrates multiple technologies to identify cyber risks among subcontractors and suppliers—from cyber risk scoring to media intelligence.

Conclusion

Cyber supply chain risk governance is a strategic pillar for organizations in 2025. With 42% of procurement leadersciting cyberattacks as a top concern, evaluating third-party cyber maturity is a must.

A structured benchmark approach delivers three key benefits:

• Increased visibility into supply chain vulnerabilities
• Resource optimization through AI and automation
• Improved compliance with new regulations like NIS 2 and DORA

For the IT/Telecom sector in particular—where 68% of businesses consider cyber risk a top priority—collaborative evaluation combined with continuous monitoring is vital for business continuity. This approach not only ensures compliance but also secures critical systems.