Third-Party and Contractor Risk
Trusted Third Parties Create Risk You Can’t Always See
Contractors and third parties need access to keep the business moving. But without visibility into how that access is leveraged, routine work can be difficult to distinguish from misuse.
40%
of organizations use strict third-party vetting procedures.
Vetting helps establish trust at the start of a relationship. Ongoing oversight is needed to understand how access is used over time.
53%
of insider incidents are caused by negligent or mistaken employees or contractors.
Third-party risk doesn’t always involve malicious intent. Routine mistakes and careless data handling can still expose sensitive information.
67%
days is the average time to contain an insider incident.
When third-party activity is spread across separate records and tools, determining what happened can slow the response.
*Data from the Ponemon Institue
Third-party risk hides inside trusted work
Third parties operate outside the managed workforce. Risk emerges when their activity no longer matches the work they were authorized to perform.
Trusted access, limited oversight
Third parties receive legitimate access to do their jobs. Access controls show what they can reach, but not whether their activity still serves its intended purpose.
Credentials attackers can exploit
Attackers target third-party accounts because they provide a trusted path into enterprise systems. Their activity may appear legitimate even after an account is compromised.
Inconsistent security practices
External users work across different environments. These variations create visibility gaps in how their activity is monitored.
Data moving beyond its purpose
Third parties often need sensitive information to complete their work. Risk increases when they access more data than required or move it outside expected workflows.
Fragmented ownership
Responsibility for third-party risk often spans several teams. When information is scattered across systems, investigators must piece together what happened.
What happens when trusted access goes beyond the job?
Follow Roger as trusted access is used outside its intended purpose, and see how DTEX reveals the behavior putting sensitive data at risk.
Understand how third parties use trusted access
DTEX provides the context behind third-party behavior so teams can identify the activity that requires a closer look.
Continuous monitoring across endpoints and servers
Track a user-centered record of how third parties interact with systems and data, across the endpoints and servers in your enterprise environment.
Behavioral risk prioritization
Focus investigations on meaningful changes in behavior rather than treating every third-party action as risky.
Compromised account detection
Identify changes in account activity that may indicate a trusted third-party account has been compromised.
Sensitive data movement context
Connect unusual data movement to the external user involved and the activity that led to it.
Control bypass detection
Detect attempts to bypass security controls or access restricted resources.
Contextual audit trails
Build a clear record of third-party activity without reconstructing events from disconnected sources.
See what happens after third-party access is granted
Traditional tools manage access and assess vendor security. DTEX shows how third parties use that access and which activity warrants investigation.
| Coverage needed | What traditional tools offer | DTEX Insider Risk Management |
|---|---|---|
| Identity and access governance | IAM and identity governance tools manage accounts and access requirements. | Connects identity and access context with observed third-party activity across monitored environments. |
| Vendor risk assessment | Third-party risk platforms assess a vendor’s security posture through periodic reviews. | Adds visibility into how individual third-party users behave after access is granted. |
| Endpoint and server activity | EDR detects device-focused threats and security events. | Provides a user-centered record of third-party activity across monitored endpoints and servers. |
| Compromised identities | Security tools may detect authentication anomalies or technical alerts. | Identifies changes in behavior that may indicate a trusted account has been compromised. |
| Sensitive data movement | DLP applies policies to sensitive data and how it’s handled. | Connects data movement to the external user and the activity surrounding it. |
| Investigation context | Relevant information may be fragmented across multiple systems. | Builds a contextual audit trail that reduces manual event reconstruction for investigation. |
When third-party access becomes privileged access
Some third parties need elevated access to critical systems. See how behavioral context helps identify when that access is misused.
FAQs about third-party and contractor risk
Third-party insider risk is the potential for contractors, vendors, external developers, service providers, or other trusted external users to cause harm through mistakes, compromised credentials, policy violations, or intentional misuse. Although they are not employees, their authorized access allows them to operate inside the enterprise environment.
Contractors and vendors become insiders when they receive authorized access to an organization’s systems, applications, data, or workflows. Their employer may remain outside the organization, but their access allows them to interact with internal resources.
IAM and PAM govern identities, credentials, permissions, and privileged access. Third-party risk platforms assess the posture of external organizations. DTEX complements these tools by adding behavioral context around how individual external users act after access is granted.
DTEX uses behavior analytics and aggregated risk indicators to identify changes around a trusted account, including login anomalies, unusual access patterns, restricted resource access, and unexpected activity. This context helps security teams investigate whether the account is compromised or misused.
Organizations can connect external identities with behavioral telemetry across monitored endpoints and servers. Context around application use, file activity, system changes, and data movement helps security teams distinguish expected work from activity that requires investigation.
Know when trusted third-party access becomes a risk
DTEX shows how third parties use trusted access so teams can identify activity that warrants investigation.