Transforming Vendor Engagement

From Questionnaires to Intelligence-Driven Action

Using Intelligence to Drive Collaboration

For too long, Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) has relied on questionnaires and passive assessments to gauge vendor risk. When a high-profile vulnerability emerges, organizations scramble to send out mass emails, asking vendors whether they are affected, if they have patched, or if they even know about the issue.

This approach is slow, ineffective, and frustrating for both enterprises and vendors.

Response rates are low (often under 30%), leading to delayed mitigation.
Vendors receive the same questions from multiple customers, creating redundant work.
There’s no guarantee that the right person (e.g., SOC teams) at the vendor will receive the inquiry.

Old Approach: Risk Response Driven by Questionnaires (no risk intel)

What if, instead of questions, we provided vendors with real intelligence?

Instead of starting the conversation by asking: "Are you affected?" Lead with intelligence: "We have identified a high-risk vulnerability affecting your systems. Here’s the evidence, impact, and recommended mitigation steps."

This is the shift Black Kite enables.

Black Kite BridgeTM

Proactive Vendor Engagement

Instead of reactive questioning, Black Kite Bridge empowers organizations to proactively notify vendors with evidence-backed intelligence and track remediation efforts in real time.

New Approach: Risk Response Driven by Risk Intelligence

How Black Kite Bridge Transforms Vendor Collaboration:

Identify Affected Vendors Instantly

When a new vulnerability is identified, organizations can filter vendors by exposure using FocusTags.

No guesswork—precise risk intelligence shows who is likely affected.

Automated, Actionable Vendor Outreach

Instead of generic emails, structured outreach messages are sent to vendors, including:

Affected assets & CVEs
Exploitability details (KEV, PoC availability, threat actor activity)
Recommended remediation steps

Ensure Engagement with the Right Teams

The biggest challenge in vendor collaboration is reaching the right people. Black Kite’s intelligence network connects directly with SOC teams, bypassing bureaucracy.

Real-Time Tracking of Remediation Progress

Customers monitor vendor responses and actions in a single dashboard.
Track KPIs like response rates, remediation time, and false positive resolution.
Instead of spending weeks chasing answers, customers move to managing risk reduction.

The Outreach Report in Black Kite Bridge tracks vendor response metrics.

Why Collaboration is the Final Piece of Risk Detection and Response

By integrating vendor collaboration into the risk lifecycle, TPRM shifts from a compliance-driven process to an intelligence-driven approach.

The Old Way

Traditional TPRM:

Mass Questionnaires

Low response rates (10-30%)

Slow, manual process

Uncertainty about vendor risk

The New Way

Intelligence-Driven TPRM

Proactive Vendor Intelligence

70-100% response/remediation rates

Automated, real-time tracking

Evidence-backed exposure analysis

Beyond Risk Identification

Enabling Collective Risk Mitigation

Vulnerability management does not end with knowing which vendors are affected—it ends when the risk is remediated.

With Black Kite Bridge, customers bridge the gap between risk detection and vendor action. Instead of waiting weeks for incomplete answers, they gain real-time visibility into remediation efforts, allowing them to focus on managing risk, not managing emails.

This is the missing piece in TPRM vulnerability management. This is how we shift from interrogating vendors to enabling them. Because companies and vendors alike mutually benefit from an intelligence network.

Risk Response Driven by Questionnaires vs. Risk Intelligence

Risk Detection and Response in Case of High-Priority Vulnerabilities

By integrating intelligence, automation, and direct vendor engagement, organizations can achieve faster risk reduction and stronger security partnerships with their vendors. Risk management is no longer a one-way street—it’s a collaborative effort.

With FocusTags, Risk Intelligence, and Black Kite Bridge, TPRM professionals move beyond passive assessments and into proactive risk mitigation—making third-party security an actionable, measurable, and continuous process.