Third-party security issues could be the biggest threat facing your business

• 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.

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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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