Term/4th party

• A 4th party is a vendor, service, or dependency used by a 3rd-party vendor your organization works with.
  • In a chain:
    • your organization
    • your 3rd party vendor
    • that vendor's 4th party providers
• Why this matters for security and risk:
  • Your data or operations can still be affected by incidents at the 4th-party layer.
  • Visibility is usually lower than with direct (3rd-party) vendors.
• Context:
  • Vendor/Management
  • BCWSC/26/1100 Managing 3rd Party Vendor Relationships Panel