What is an example of remote access?
The easiest example that comes to mind, when thinking of remote access, revolves around employees accessing their company’s network remotely (like if you’re working at home during a pandemic).
Is remote vendor access the path of least resistance?
A vendor is frequently seen as the path of least resistance for a bad actor to get into a network or multiple networks. Let’s look at the best practices associated with third-party remote vendor access.
Why is it important to manage third-party remote vendor access?
Because of this, it’s imperative that businesses have much more control over and manage their third-party remote vendor access. Beyond that, in order to limit liability, enterprises need a detailed log of exactly what individuals did while they were connected to their network. If you don’t have that, you’re not secure, accountable, or compliant.
Internal vs. External Network Access
However, the scenario above is specifically for an internal employee– one that your company directly hires (and fires). With a vendor remote access policy, there is a higher degree of power. Since a vendor is external to a business, you don’t have the same control over who is coming and going and how many times their login is shared.
Credential Vaulting
Beyond that, in order to limit liability, enterprises need a detailed log of exactly what individuals did while they were connected to their network. If you don’t have that, you’re not secure, accountable, or compliant.
VPNs for Vendor Remote Access
While VPNs are ideal for employee remote network access, for a vendor, this type of access can be both limiting and frustrating. When using VPNs to access customer networks, vendors may get dropped off their own network and not be able to access their local knowledge-base or hard drive.
Desktop Sharing for Vendor Remote Access
Desktop sharing support tools, on the other hand, are designed for remote support of end-user desktops. While desktop sharing is great for desktops, customers often create a bottleneck in the remote vendor access process.
Vendor Privileged Access Management (VPAM)
With a vendor privileged access management tool, businesses can authenticate on the vendor side, using the vendor’s Active Directory (AD), LDAP, or email. User accounts aren’t shared, and every action is tied to an individual – helping ensure accountability and compliance.