Accountants. Web developers. Marketing agencies. Software vendors.
Most growing businesses rely on outside partners to get things done.
To help them do their work, you give them access:
- Logins to your accounting system
- Access to your website backend
- Accounts in your Microsoft 365 tenant
- Shared Files
- VPN access to specific servers or apps
That’s normal.
The problem is what happens when those relationships change.
At Ascend Technology Group, when we onboard new clients, we frequently find old vendor accounts still active – sometimes years after a project ends. Let’s talk about why that matters and what to do about it.
How Vendor Access Gets Out of Hand
It rarely starts as negligence. It usually looks like this:
- “Give our accountant a login so they can pull reports.”
- “Our web developer needs access to the admin portal.”
- “The software vendor needs temp access for setup.”
Everyone’s trying to move quickly. But over time:
- Vendors change
- Projects wrap up
- Contacts move companies
- You switch tools or platforms
Meanwhile, the accounts stay.
Why Old Vendor Access Is a Real Risk
1. More doors, more keys
Every active account is a potential way into your systems. Verizon’s 2025 DBIR report show that the percentage of cyber security incidents originating from third party access doubled from 15% to 30$ between 2024-2025. An old vendor account with a weak password or no MFA can be the path attackers use.
2. No clear ownership
If no one “owns” vendor access, no one knows:
- Who still has access
- From which company
- For what purpose
That makes incident response and audits much harder.
3. Compounded risk over time
A vendor’s own environment might get breached.
If they reused passwords or never rotated them, your systems could be pulled into that breach—even if you haven’t worked with that vendor in years.
A Practical Vendor Access Checklist
You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. Start with a simple inventory:
- List your vendors who have any system access
- Accountants and bookkeepers
- Web designers / marketing firms
- Line-of-business application support
- Managed service providers and IT partners
- Identify where they log in
- Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace
- VPN / remote access tools
- Line-of-business apps (ERP, CRM, EMR, etc.)
- Ask three key questions
- Do they still need this access?
- Is it too broad (more than they need)?
- Is it protected with MFA and strong passwords?
Better Practices Going Forward
Once you have a handle on current access, tighten how you grant it in the future:
Use named accounts, not shared ones
Instead of “VendorAdmin,” give “jane@vendorcompany.com” their own account. That way, when Jane leaves or the relationship ends, you can remove that specific account.
Set clear start and end points
When granting access, decide in advance:
- What they’re accessing
- Why they need it
- When it should be reviewed or removed
- When sharing files, set an expiration date on the link
Review vendor access at least twice a year
Add it to your regular IT review cycle. It doesn’t need to be complicated—just consistent.
Include vendors in offboarding processes
When you switch vendors or end engagements, vendor access should be on the offboarding checklist, just like employees.
How Ascend Supports Vendor Management
We help clients:
- Map where vendors currently have access
- Implement role-based and time-bound access
- Enforce MFA for external accounts
- Schedule follow up reviews or dates to cancel vendor access so it’s not forgotten
You don’t need to shut vendors out, you just need to be intentional about who has the keys and for how long.
If you haven’t reviewed vendor access in a while, now is a good time to start.
We’d be glad to walk through it with you and turn it into a manageable process.
