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Start with the business impact, not a questionnaire
List what the software does, which business processes depend on it, what information it stores or processes, and who can access it. Include integrations and privileged access, as well as the likely impact of an outage, data loss, or unauthorized disclosure. Note how difficult it would be to switch and identify critical providers the supplier relies on, such as hosting or identity services.
This is a risk-based procurement method, not a universal risk score. A low-impact tool with little access may warrant a brief review; a service holding sensitive information or supporting a critical workflow merits stronger evidence and follow-up. NIST’s ICT Supplier Due Diligence Assessment Quick-Start Guide (SP 1326, July 2026) organizes due diligence around foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI), provenance, resilience, foundational cyber practices, and supply-chain tiers.
What security questions should I ask a SaaS provider?
Request a compact evidence pack tied to the product and service you plan to buy. CISA’s SMB Cybersecurity Performance Goals and its 2025 operationalizing template offer practical prompts on controls, attestations, software bills of materials, product-security response, and supply-chain obligations.
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- Service and data: Ask for an overview of the architecture, hosting, data flows, key subprocessors, and the data the service retains.
- Controls and independent evidence: Request relevant security-policy summaries and any attestation or certification, including its scope, period covered, exceptions, and renewal date.
- Development and delivery: Ask how code is reviewed and tested, how changes are approved and released, how updates are delivered and integrity is checked, and how third-party components are tracked. Ask whether an SBOM or other provenance information is available and relevant.
- Vulnerability handling: Request the reporting channel or disclosure policy, how reports are triaged and remediated, and how customers are notified about issues that affect them.
- Incidents and recovery: Ask for the incident-response and recovery approach, including how the supplier restores service and checks that restored data is complete and accurate.
- Continuity and exit: Get details on data export formats, retention, deletion, and assistance with transition or termination.
How do I verify a supplier’s security claims?
Check that each document is current, identifies the right legal entity, covers the service under consideration, and is specific enough to assess. A certificate may cover only a management system or limited scope; a SOC report may have exclusions and apply to a defined period. Ask the supplier to explain gaps and show how the relevant control applies to your use.
Treat an attestation or certification as one input, not proof that the product is safe. CISA’s assessment materials ask about attestations alongside operational practices such as incident response, asset management, and recovery. A credential does not answer every product-level or service-level question.
Rank #2
Public information and third-party security-rating platforms can add context, but they do not replace supplier evidence, contractual commitments, or your own assessment of business impact. NIST suggests these platforms as an option when resources permit; a rating is not a substitute for checking scope and asking follow-up questions.
How should I assess software security and vulnerability response?
Ask how the supplier builds, tests, changes, delivers, and updates the software. Useful evidence includes secure-development practices, code review and testing procedures, component tracking, and safeguards for release and update integrity. Where feasible, ask how the supplier verifies signatures or hashes; ask for an SBOM or software datasheet when applicable and available. NIST’s Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management Practices for Systems and Organizations (SP 800-161 Rev. 1 Update 1) describes supplier assessment, development practices, attestations, integrity checks, and contractual flow-downs as relevant considerations.
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How can I tell whether a software supplier is reliable?
Reliability is more than a stated uptime figure. Ask how the supplier detects incidents, communicates disruption, restores full service, and verifies data integrity after recovery. Request the scope and date of the latest recovery test, and ask which hosting, identity, payment, support, or other providers could interrupt the service.
Rank #4
Also establish how you can retrieve your data in a usable format and what happens when the relationship ends. Recovery capability and a workable exit plan matter most when the tool supports an important process or holds data that would be costly to recreate. CISA’s SMB assessment questions include restoring full functionality with integrity verification; NIST SP 1326 treats resilience and supply-chain tiers as due-diligence areas.
Compare suppliers on the same evidence
When genuine alternatives exist, use consistent criteria rather than comparing one supplier’s marketing claims with another’s technical paperwork.
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| Area | What to compare |
|---|---|
| Data and access | Data types and flows, privileged access, integrations, and relevant hosting or subprocessors. |
| Evidence quality | Document scope and date, independent testing or attestation, product coverage, and unresolved exceptions. |
| Software lifecycle | Development and testing practices, component provenance, release and update integrity, and vulnerability handling. |
| Resilience | Critical dependencies, incident communication, recovery testing, integrity checks, and data portability. |
| Contract and exit | Security duties, subcontractor obligations, notice and remediation commitments, data return or deletion, and transition support. |
| Operational fit | Support model, responsiveness, and demonstrated ability to meet the needs of the workflow. |
Put important commitments in the contract and decision record
For a service that matters to the business, align the contract with the risks identified in the review. Address security responsibilities, incident communication, vulnerability handling, subcontractor requirements, continuity, data return and deletion, and termination assistance. Set notice and recovery expectations to fit the service, applicable obligations, and business impact rather than assuming one target suits every buyer. NIST SP 800-161 Rev. 1 Update 1 recommends flowing down relevant requirements for secure development, delivery, operational support, and maintenance.
Record what you reviewed, what remains unanswered, who owns the risk, what mitigations are required, and who approves any accepted gap. If a gap is accepted, document the accountable person and the date or event that will trigger reassessment. CISA’s spreadsheet response model—yes, no, or partial—is a useful way to organize answers, but it should not mechanically approve a supplier.
For small businesses building their own broader cybersecurity approach, NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework 2.0: Small Business Quick-Start Guide (SP 1300, February 2024) is a separate resource. It is not a supplier certification or a substitute for reviewing the service being purchased.
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