New report highlights growing risks in banking supply chains amid increasing third-party reliance
SecurityScorecard today released an in-depth analysis revealing that 97% of the top 100 U.S. banks experienced a third-party data breach in the past year, exposing significant vulnerabilities in banking supply chains.
As banks increasingly rely on third-party vendors for core functions, their exposure to supply chain vulnerabilities grows. Using the largest proprietary risk and threat intelligence dataset, SecurityScorecard’s experts analyzed how third-party breaches impact the banking sector. With these breaches posing serious risks, fully understanding external dependencies is essential for reducing exposure and maintaining resilience.
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Ryan Sherstobitoff, Senior Vice President of Threat Research and Intelligence, said:
“Nearly all major U.S. banks faced third-party breaches, exposing serious weaknesses across our interconnected digital ecosystem. The recent CrowdStrike incident underscored this fragility, showing how issues with just one vendor — even without a breach — can create widespread exposure and risk. For banks, these third-party vulnerabilities mean one compromised vendor could destabilize the entire financial system.”
Key findings
- 97% of the largest U.S. banks reported third-party breaches, even though only 6% of vendors were compromised, showing the extensive reach of these incidents.
- Nearly all (97%) of these banks also suffered fourth-party breaches, traced back to just 2% of vendors.
- Each of the top 10 U.S. banks faced a third-party breach, underscoring risk across the industry.
Cybersecurity recommendations for the financial industry
Based on this analysis, the SecurityScorecard STRIKE team also offers actionable insights for enhancing cybersecurity in the banking sector:
- Continuously monitor external attack surfaces: Implement automated scanning to detect IT infrastructure and cybersecurity risks across vendor and partner environments.
- Identify single points of failure: Map the critical business processes and technologies to identify any single points of failure. Create a watch list with these vendors.
- Automatically detect new vendors: Passively monitor vendors’ IT deployments to identify and resolve hidden supply chain risks.
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