Small and medium-sized companies often hire contractors, vendors, and other third parties to perform services on premises such as electrical upgrades and HVAC repair.
An organization's infrastructure often overlaps or is interdependent with other systems within your building—think about the IT needed to support building controls or the climate control required to cool a server closet.
It’s common for companies to allow external contractors of all kinds access to privileged spaces within their buildings. But what happens when a third party damages your IT environment?
As a managed IT service provider, (MSP), we see this happen from time to time. Usually it’s due to normal human error, inadequate training, poorly managed IT getting in its own way, or insufficient supervision. Only rarely is it intentional or malicious.
That said, there are some simple steps you can take to minimize the chances of such incidents happening, and limit their impact when they do occur.
In this article, we’ll discuss the challenges SMBs face when allowing external parties to work on their IT or access key infrastructure to perform other work. We’ll examine some common ways your IT can be hurt by third parties and outline six effective measures to keep your business safe.
With this information, you’ll be able to develop a proactive strategy for safeguarding your IT hardware and systems and avoid accidental or intentional harm caused by third-party contractors.
Every time you open your systems, data, or physical premises to third-party agents (even ones you trust) there’s some risk, and your business can be adversely impacted.
Issues can range from minor inconveniences to full-scale operational shutdowns.
Here’s an example scenario:
An electrician installing a new 20-amp circuit steps on a loose network cable and takes down your Active Directory domain controller. An offline domain controller can disrupt your entire IT footprint. This includes broken access to domain resources like databases, servers, networks, and websites.
A major disruption such as this could lead to inadvertent data loss. Also, it might take a while to identify the root cause of the issue and restore service or access your data backups to retrieve the lost data.
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Oftentimes, these are avoidable mistakes that occur because of an innocent error, inadequate training, or when a third-party agent is simply rushing to complete a job and accidentally damages your IT.
Third-party companies doing work on around your IT can cause unintended damage. There are several factors that can increase this type of risk to your business, including:
No two businesses are exactly alike. External service providers may be unaware of your specific IT access policies and procedures.
Contractors in fields like HVAC, plumbing or electrical are not expected to be knowledgeable about industry best practices or regulatory requirements when accessing, repairing, or modifying elements of their systems that integrate with your IT environment.
Neither are they familiar with the physical layout of your space or technology.
Without proper training or oversight, this can lead to inadvertent mistakes.
Sometimes, these types of IT issues caused by third-party stakeholders are the result of business cost-cutting measures.
For instance, an organization knows that different vendors and third-party personnel occasionally have access to its technology, but the company fails to implement adequate security controls to protect it.
Deferred IT maintenance, a lack of robust physical and cybersecurity safeguards, and the use of outdated IT could increase the chances of something going wrong when bringing in outside contractors or third-party support.
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Limited budgets can also mean having insufficient internal IT staff to regularly monitor the work of employees from outside companies while they’re accessing your equipment and systems. This could lead to some of the problems mentioned earlier.
Identifying a main point person to help oversee and monitor your IT when outside contractors are performing a job can help eliminate confusion and prevent issues. Using managed IT can fill this void by serving as an integral resource for internal and external stakeholders.
Let’s face it, with today’s rapidly changing business landscape, many small and medium-sized business leaders are so focused on dealing with day-to-day issues, putting out fires, and growing their business that they don’t have time to focus on the “what-ifs” of tomorrow.
However, failing to develop and implement a comprehensive BCDR plan could leave your company at risk in the event of an IT emergency triggered by the actions of an external company's personnel.
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If you experience an unexpected outage or damage to critical equipment, you need to have a continuity and recovery plan in order to recover effectively.
There are a number of security solutions you can adopt to strengthen your security posture and safeguard your valuable IT assets. Those include:
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After reading this article, you now understand
While no one can predict the future, having a plan and the right guardrails in place will help ensure that your business is prepared to face whatever challenges lie ahead.
Using a reliable managed IT services provider (MSP) can help you develop and implement a comprehensive security strategy and IT budget to meet your short- and long-term business goals.
While we know managed IT isn’t right for everyone, if you have decided to partner with an MSP, we recommend that you research several providers to find the one best suited for your business.
As a trusted local managed IT services provider, Kelser has helped hundreds of companies over our more than 40-year history find and remediate hidden security vulnerabilities to help keep them running smoothly, efficiently, and securely.
If you need help identifying vulnerabilities with a gap analysis, closing security gaps, developing and implementing a BCDR plan, or have other security or IT concerns, reach out by clicking the button. We're here to help.