- Third-party cybersecurity risks are a growing threat, report claims
- More than a third of all breaches in 2024 were related to third parties
- Retail and hospitality were most heavily hit
Third-party security issues are probably the biggest threat your business is facing, new research has claimed.
The new 2025 Global Third-Party Breach Report from SecurityScorecard analyzed 1,000 breaches across different industries and regions, and concluded that more than a third (35.5%) of all breaches in 2024 were related to third parties.
To make matters even worse, this figure is “likely conservative,” the company said, due to underreporting and misclassification.
Retail and hospitality
The report further states that there has been a significant diversification of attack surfaces in 2025, compared to the year before, since less than half (46.75%) of third-party breaches involved technology products and services (down from 75% the year prior).
Looking at specific industries, SecurityScorecard found retail and hospitality to have suffered the highest third-party breach rate (52.4%), followed by the technology industry (47.3%), and the energy and utilities industry (46.7%).
Even though it had a below-average rate of 32.2%, the healthcare industry suffered the most third-party breaches in absolute numbers (78).
Geographically, Singapore fared worst (71.4%), followed by the Netherlands (70.4%), and Japan (60%).
SecurityScorecard also warned about the dangers of ransomware through third-party risk. More than two in five (41.4%) of all ransomware attacks now start through third parties, with the infamous Cl0p group leading the charge.
“Threat actors are prioritizing third-party access for its scalability. Our research shows ransomware groups and state-sponsored attackers increasingly leveraging supply chains as entry points. To stay ahead of these threats, security leaders must move from periodic vendor reviews to real-time monitoring to contain these risks before they escalate throughout their supply chain,” said Ryan Sherstobitoff, SVP of SecurityScorecard’s STRIKE Threat Research and Intelligence.
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