You’ve secured your own systems. Your team is trained. Your compliance roadmap is on track. But there’s one area that many government contractors continue to overlook: third-party vendors. In an interconnected digital environment, your security is only as strong as your least secure partner.
Why Vendor Risk Keeps Flying Under the Radar
Federal contractors rely on dozens of suppliers, subcontractors, and cloud service providers. And yet, few have a clear view into:
How those vendors store or process Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
Whether they meet CMMC or NIST 800-171 requirements
What happens if a vendor experiences a breach or outage
Why? Because vendor assessments often feel too complex, too political, or too time-consuming—until it’s too late.
The Compliance Risk You Inherit
CMMC, DFARS, and related frameworks increasingly emphasize flow-down requirements. That means if your vendors touch CUI, you are responsible for ensuring they follow the same rules.
Consequences of poor vendor oversight:
Failed audits
Contract loss or disqualification
Data exposure and liability
Reputational damage within the Defense Industrial Base
Signs Your Vendor Oversight Needs Work
You don’t have current compliance documentation from key vendors
There’s no central inventory of third-party tools and data access
No formal risk tiering or assessment process is in place
You rely on verbal assurances or outdated contracts
Strengthen Your Foundation Before You Scale
Before onboarding more vendors—or expanding access—make sure your own environment is compliant and secure. That includes migrating from commercial cloud systems to environments approved for government data.
Many contractors begin with GCC High migration services to establish a solid foundation and ensure their internal and external partners are aligned with federal compliance.