Managing Third-Party Remote Access: Tools, Risks, and Practical Tips (Off the Wire Part 3)

In part three of Off the Wire’s four-part miniseries, the hosts discuss third-party remote access risks and why VPNs with MFA alone are insufficient, citing major breaches like Target and Toyota and a 2023 vendor compromise as wake-up calls. They review third-party access tools (BeyondTrust/Bomgar, SecureLink, ManageEngine PAM360, and OT-focused options like Claroty and Slo), explaining benefits such as role-based access control, detailed logging and session recording, layered approvals, session time limits, vendor-managed user provisioning, automatic deprovisioning, individual accountability, passwordless access, and rapid access shutdown when relationships end.

They describe these tools as proxy-based “airlocks” that prevent lateral movement and enable oversight. Implementation advice includes treating it as non-negotiable while documenting exceptions, requiring ticket numbers, routing requests via chat, ensuring multiple approvers, sending logs to a SIEM, updating incident response plans, auditing access annually, and providing vendors a setup one-pager.

00:00 Third Party Access Intro

01:19 Why VPN Is Not Enough

01:51 Real World Breach Examples

02:44 Wake Up Call Story

04:33 Tool Options Overview

06:11 Key Features And Benefits

14:39 How These Tools Work

16:51 Vendor Pushback And Compliance

21:49 Implementation Tips Checklist

26:59 Wrap Up And Final Tip