Every autumn, small and medium businesses across Greater Manchester gear up for their busiest trading period. That usually means bringing in extra hands: a seasonal courier, a new payment processor to handle the surge in card transactions, temporary warehouse staff, or an agency to run your Christmas marketing campaign. Each of these third parties typically needs some form of access to your systems, your network or your customer data. What many owners do not realise is that every one of those connections is a potential route into your business for an attacker, and it is not your vendor's reputation on the line if something goes wrong, it is yours.
Third-party risk is not just a large enterprise problem. In fact, SMEs are often more exposed because they lack the formal checks that bigger companies apply before granting access. A breach caused by a supplier's weak password policy, an unsecured file transfer, or a temp worker's personal laptop can lead to stolen customer data, disrupted trading at your busiest time of year, and real reputational damage. The good news is that managing this risk does not require a huge compliance department. It requires a handful of sensible checks done consistently, every time you bring a new third party on board.
Why the seasonal rush increases your exposure
During quieter months, most businesses have a fairly stable, well understood set of people and systems touching their network. Black Friday and Christmas change that picture quickly. You might onboard a new payment gateway in a hurry to cope with demand, grant a seasonal courier access to your order system, or let a marketing agency plug into your customer database for a campaign. Decisions get made fast, under pressure, and security checks are often the first thing to be skipped because everyone just wants the sales to go through.
Attackers know this. They specifically target the weeks around Black Friday and Christmas because they know businesses are distracted, stretched thin, and more likely to approve access requests without proper scrutiny.
What to check before granting any third-party access
Before you give a new supplier, processor or temporary worker access to your systems, run through a short set of checks:
- Ask what data or systems they actually need to touch, and limit access to exactly that, nothing more.
- Check whether they have basic cybersecurity credentials, such as Cyber Essentials certification, or at minimum ask how they protect their own systems.
- Find out how they store and transmit any customer or payment data you share with them.
- Ask how quickly they would tell you if they suffered a breach that could affect your business.
- For temporary staff, confirm whether they will use your managed devices or their own, and treat personal devices as a higher risk category.
None of this needs to be a lengthy audit. A short questionnaire or even a direct conversation is often enough to spot a vendor who has not thought about security at all.
Contractual safeguards worth putting in writing
Verbal reassurances are not worth much if something goes wrong later. Wherever possible, get the following into a written agreement before access is granted:
- A clear statement of what data the third party can access, for how long, and for what purpose.
- A requirement to notify you within a set number of hours if they experience a security incident.
- A right for you to revoke access immediately at the end of the contract or trading period.
- Confirmation of where data is stored and whether it is shared with any further subcontractors.
For smaller or informal arrangements, such as a one-off seasonal supplier, even a simple email confirming these points is better than nothing, and gives you something to point to if a dispute arises later.
Practical access control for the trading season
Alongside the checks and paperwork, a few technical habits make a real difference. Create separate login accounts for every temporary worker or vendor rather than sharing one generic password. Set access to expire automatically at the end of the agreed period, rather than relying on someone remembering to remove it in January. Where possible, segment your network so that a supplier handling, say, your delivery scheduling cannot also see your financial systems or customer records. And keep a simple log of who has access to what, so you can review and revoke it quickly if a relationship ends or something looks wrong.
Vendor and third-party risk is one of those areas that is easy to overlook when you are focused on hitting sales targets, but it is exactly the kind of gap that causes real damage when it is exploited. If you would like help reviewing the access your current suppliers and seasonal staff have, or want a straightforward way to manage and monitor it through the busy season, Get in touch with Valetech Solutions.