Experts: A Contractor’s Cybersecurity Matters as Much as Its Financial Stability
TERA IT Distributor has added CICADA8 CyberRating, the first Russian platform for assessing counterparty security, to its product portfolio.
Large Russian companies continue to strengthen their security systems, investing heavily in digital protection. Yet attackers have not stopped trying to penetrate corporate infrastructure through counterparties and contractors. As a result, protecting not only the internal perimeter but the entire chain of external relationships is becoming increasingly important.
Comprehensive Partner Risk Assessment
Russian companies TERA IT Distributor and CICADA8 recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement. TERA has added the CICADA8 CyberRating platform to its portfolio. It is the first Russian solution that allows organizations to assess the risks associated with working with a particular contractor or counterparty.
CICADA8 CyberRating belongs to the Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) category. The solution can identify potential entry points into corporate networks, assess the security posture of the external perimeter and continuously track signs of compromise.
The platform works across several fronts at once. It scans partners’ externally exposed services to identify vulnerabilities and potential entry points. It also continuously analyzes changes in their infrastructure, an approach far more effective than one-off assessments. Beyond external scanning for vulnerabilities and network weaknesses, the system continuously monitors hundreds of open and closed information sources, including the dark web.
A New Tool for the Cyber Insurance Market
CICADA8 CyberRating can also be used in the cyber insurance market. Insurers can use the system to analyze a prospective client’s vulnerabilities when setting premiums. The platform can also monitor changes in the client’s security posture throughout the policy term, allowing the cost of coverage to be adjusted.
“We highly value our partners’ experience and technical expertise in hardware platforms and cybersecurity. An important factor is that they have their own laboratory and expertise in testing integrated solutions. We are confident that our cooperation will provide a foundation not only for promoting CICADA8, but also for developing new technology partnerships with other market participants in the future,” said Timur Bigulov, head of partner development at CICADA8.
Hackers Work Through Third Parties
Attacks on companies through their contractors have been among the most common tactics used by threat actors for several years. According to Kaspersky Lab, they were already among the three most frequently used intrusion methods in 2023. Most compromise attempts were carried out through small and midsize businesses, whose information security budgets are limited.
In 2024, the number of attacks on companies continued to rise. According to analysts at the RED Security SOC cyberthreat monitoring and response center, the number of such incidents tripled. The researchers also explained what was driving the trend. Directly compromising the infrastructure of large companies is too resource-intensive for hackers, making it easier to work through organizations within a company’s trusted network.
Soon to Become Standard
The issue is also well understood at the government level. On March 1 this year, Order No. 117 of Russia’s Federal Service for Technical and Export Control took effect, introducing a stricter approach to contractors working with government organizations’ information systems. If a contractor gains access to a customer’s data or infrastructure, it must comply with the customer’s information security policy and secure development requirements. Those conditions must be explicitly incorporated into contracts.
The agreement between TERA IT Distributor and CICADA8 therefore reflects another sign of an emerging trend in Russia’s cybersecurity market. A contractor’s cybersecurity posture is now becoming as important a measure of its reliability as its financial reporting. In the future, such rating systems could be integrated directly into procurement processes.
