It seems that all the high profile data breaches gracing the headlines in recent times has clearly struck a nerve with enterprise leaders. Organisations now realise that it’s no longer enough to ensure their own network is secure. They now must now also pay more attention to securing their suppliers.

According to new research, the majority of business leaders feel that their suppliers have an obligation to ensure that they do not expose them to unnecessary cyber security risks.

The study also found that 17% would take legal action to recover financial losses from a breach if a supplier’s negligence was to blame. Similarly, 20% would use the incident to negotiate a further discount. Only 3% said they would take no action.

>See also: Supply chain attacks are the next big risk for organisations

More than a third (35%) of the leaders questioned said they wouldn’t work with a supplier who would increase their vulnerability to cyber crime, while 27% said they would avoid using a company that had been publicly associated with a breach.

A quarter of those interviewed would not work with companies that didn’t have a documented cyber policy in place, while 19% would avoid potential suppliers without cyber security insurance.

>See also: How to protect the IT supply chain from cyber attacks

Sonia Blizzard, managing director of Beaming, said: “We’ve seen for some time that hackers will seek to infiltrate one organisation as a stepping stone to then attack others. This research clearly shows that business leaders see cyber security as a shared responsibility. Businesses that neglect to take the steps necessary to protect themselves and their partners could find that a single breach could irreparably damage their hard-earned reputations and relationships.”

“For businesses, the consideration of risk must extend beyond their own boundaries to incorporate customers, partners and other organisations they come into contact with. Rather than simply guarding what’s ours, we need a cyber security culture that means we all look out for those we do business with too. Just like herd immunity, if enough businesses are well secured, the ability for denial-of-service attacks, viruses and other attacks to spread will be greatly diminished.”

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