Digital transformation involves working with multiple partners that deliver digital tools and infrastructure to your organization. These partners might include software vendors that develop and sell solutions like customer relationship management (CRM) systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, SaaS tools, and other data platforms.

Unfortunately, not all vendors care about security as much as you do, which opens up your business cybersecurity threats. Due to the enormous demand for new software — experts predict the global business software and services market revenue will reach $813.4 billion in 2028. Due to this, some vendors might skip testing and quality assurance protocols when developing new products, resulting in software with serious security vulnerabilities. Other vendors might not update their products with the latest security patches and fixes, potentially exposing your data to bad actors.

Another problem is the speed at which digital transformation happens in many enterprises. Some companies — eager to implement new technologies for rapid growth — don't thoroughly research vendors and end up with 'bad' software that could jeopardize their business operations.

A recent example of the potential dangers of digital transformation is the much-publicized SolarWinds hack — a software supply chain attack that impacted thousands of computer systems, including those at the highest levels of government. System users who purchased SolarWinds' Orion management software for digital transformation inadvertently downloaded malicious code when updating the tool, resulting in stolen data and compromised networks. In this case, the vendor was responsible for a critical lapse in security.