What Happens When Your IT Provider Gets Breached?

Accountancy firms depend on a growing web of software suppliers, IT providers, and client-facing portals, and each one represents a potential path into the firm's systems. Supply chain risk is easy to overlook precisely because it sits outside the firm's direct control.

Assessing supplier risk

Before onboarding a new vendor, it's worth asking straightforward questions: how do they protect data, what happens if they're breached, and what obligations does the contract actually place on them. A vendor's own certifications — Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001 — are a useful signal, though not a substitute for asking directly.

When a supplier gets breached

Even well-chosen suppliers can be compromised, and firms need to know in advance what that would mean for their own data and systems. Building basic supplier security expectations into contracts, and understanding fourth-party risk — your suppliers' suppliers — rounds out a more complete picture.

If you'd like help assessing supplier risk across your firm's software stack, we're happy to talk it through.