When most businesses think about cybersecurity, they focus on their own firewalls, passwords, and internal systems. But recent events are a reminder that your security is only as strong as the vendors you trust with your data.

This past week, real-estate technology provider SitusAMC confirmed a cyber breach affecting multiple major U.S. financial institutions — including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley. Because SitusAMC handles sensitive documents and services for these banks, the breach may have exposed customer data far beyond the vendor itself.

This incident highlights one of the fastest-growing risks in cybersecurity today: third-party and supply chain attacks.

At CloudCore IT Solutions, we help small and mid-sized businesses understand and manage this type of risk — because you don’t have to be a Wall Street bank to be affected by a vendor breach.

🔗 What Happened in the SitusAMC Breach?

While details are still emerging, early reporting shows:

• Hackers compromised systems operated by SitusAMC.
• As a vendor, SitusAMC had access to sensitive financial documents, including legal filings and customer data.
• The impact cascaded outward to the banks and institutions that relied on the vendor’s services.
• This attack appears to be part of a growing trend targeting trusted service providers instead of attacking the primary organization directly.

In other words: attackers don’t need to breach a major corporation if they can breach one of its vendors.

⚠️ Why Small Businesses Should Pay Attention

Even if you don’t operate in financial services, this incident is a wake-up call. Most small businesses rely on a wide range of third-party vendors:

• Payroll processors
• Cloud file storage
• Accounting platforms
• CRM tools
• Managed IT providers
• Marketing and web hosting services
• VoIP and communications providers

Any vendor with access to your systems or your data can become a back door for attackers.
And unlike large corporations, small businesses often lack a formal vendor risk program — making them more vulnerable.

🧠 What This Breach Teaches Us

1️⃣ Vendor Access = Shared Risk

Even if your systems are secure, a vendor that stores your data may not be.

2️⃣ Attackers Prefer the Weakest Link

Large organizations are harder to breach. Vendors are often easier targets.

3️⃣ Supply Chain Attacks Are Increasing

From SolarWinds to MoveIT to this latest breach, attackers are consistently targeting the companies around their real victims.

4️⃣ Small Businesses Usually Don’t Vet Their Vendors

Most SMBs simply trust tools or services without reviewing their security posture — a costly mistake.

🛡️ How to Protect Your Business from Vendor Breaches

Here are practical steps any business can take today:

✔️ 1. Audit Your Current Vendors

Make a list of every provider with access to:

• Customer data
• Financial information
• Email systems
• Company files
• Network resources

Most businesses are shocked by how many vendors have access.

✔️ 2. Ask the Right Security Questions

Before signing with a provider (or renewing), ask:

• Do they use MFA internally?
• Are they SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certified?
• How do they encrypt stored and transmitted data?
• Do they subcontract work to other vendors?
• What is their incident response plan?

✔️ 3. Control and Limit Vendor Access

Use least-privilege rules.
If a vendor doesn’t need admin access, don’t give it to them.
If they only need temporary access, set expiration dates.

✔️ 4. Review Contracts and Service Agreements

Look for clauses about:

• Breach notification
• Data handling practices
• Liability
• Security obligations
• Data retention and deletion

✔️ 5. Add Continuous Monitoring

Modern IT environments use tools that can watch for unusual vendor activity, credential use, or suspicious login attempts — especially from outside the country.

✔️ 6. Keep Offline or Isolated Backups

If a vendor breach leads to ransomware or corruption, isolated backups can save your business.

🎖️ How CloudCore Helps Protect You

At CloudCore IT Solutions, we help clients strengthen their overall security posture by:

• Performing vendor security assessments
• Implementing least-privilege access controls
• Monitoring third-party integrations
• Reviewing contracts for security risk
• Ensuring strong encryption and MFA across platforms
• Providing secure cloud and backup solutions

As a veteran-owned company with four generations of military service, we understand how important it is to trust the people who support your mission. Vendor security is no different — and we treat it with the same level of discipline and oversight.