Avoid being biased in revewing your vendors
Imagine encountering a vendor who captivates you with their charm and polished presentation. You find a personal rapport and are persuaded by their convincing pitch. However, there's a catch: our brains are naturally inclined to be biased, which can cause us to overlook potential security risks.
Our bias towards simplicity leads us to make the easiest choice. Our confirmation bias causes us to favor vendors who reinforce our existing beliefs. Additionally, our availability bias can lead us to choose vendors who are easiest to remember, perhaps due to catchy phrases or vivid imagery.
Enter the Security Questionnaire: Your Unbiased Ally
After years of dealing with cybersecurity challenges, I can tell you that choosing the right vendor and avoiding bias in the process takes work.
I've learned that a security questionnaire can be your secret weapon to cut through the noise and focus on what matters: the vendor's security practices and the security of the service or product.
Why You Need a Security Questionnaire
- Unbiased Decision-Making: The Power of Standardization
A security questionnaire ensures every vendor answers the same questions, enabling accurate comparisons. - Cutting Through the Flash: Objectivity at its Best
Focus on factual information rather than on flashy presentations. - Creating a Reliable Process: Consistency is Key
Using the questionnaire consistently establishes a reliable and repeatable process. - Clarity and Honesty: Transparency in Expectations
Vendors are aware of your expectations, making the process clear and straightforward.
How It Mitigates Bias
A well-crafted security questionnaire asks the right questions and gets the correct answers.
It covers crucial areas like access control, data protection, incident response, and compliance with industry standards.
The format makes the vendors' answers easily comparable and gives your overwhelmed brain a shortcut by simply having to focus on the "NO" answers and comments from the vendors.
By sticking to a structured set of questions, you avoid the pitfalls of subjective judgment and the risk of being too biased when looking at the security parameters of the vendor choices.
Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing a Security Questionnaire
- Share the Questionnaire: Give your vendors the questionnaire to fill out.
- Get the Details: Ask for thorough, fact-based responses.
- Review Objectively: Look at the answers to spot any field marked with a "no" to easily find security gaps or areas needing improvement.
- Compare: Compare your vendors' answers.
How do yo make a security questionaire?
To make your life easier, I have created a template for a security questionnaire for you.
Simply sign up for my newsletter right here, and I’ll send it to you right away.
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Summing Up: The Bias Buster
Using a security questionnaire when assessing a vendor assists in mitigating several biases besides the ones I mentioned above:
- Recency Bias: Ensures decisions are based on consistent criteria, not just the most recent interactions.
- Halo Effect: Prevents being overly influenced by a vendor's charm or presentation skills by focusing on factual responses.
- Confirmation Bias: Encourages a thorough, objective review rather than seeking information that confirms pre-existing beliefs or preferences.
A well-crafted security questionnaire brings standardization, objectivity, consistency, and transparency to your vendor selection process.
By asking the right questions and getting accurate answers, you can see through the noise and identify your organization's best, most secure partners.
NB! Remember the Bigger Picture
Remember that besides the vendor's security maturity and product, other factors must be considered when choosing a vendor. These could include price, sustainability, market coverage, and many others. Our biases can also influence these choices, just as when evaluating the security factors.
I would also recommend using questionnaires here that offer quickly comparable measures.
-You could even blind the answers so that you don't know which vendor they belong to when comparing their responses.
When looking at the product itself, you can’t help being biased. The look and feel and how you react to it are very much related to your subconscious mind. I recommend preparing a set of use cases to go through with your vendor individually and checking them off as you proceed. This will help you focus on the tool's capabilities rather than relying solely on your instincts. In addition, having a diverse team of potential users is a great way to gain different perspectives on the tool.
For more brainy tips, tricks, and insights on information security, stay tuned to this blog!
Happy (and secure) vendor hunting!
