Vendor Risk Assessment Questionnaire[with Best Practices]: Top 40 Questions

The vendor risk assessment questionnaire is a set of technical questions that provides information on a company’s security and compliance policies and procedures.

It is also known as a security questionnaire, third-party risk assessment questionnaire, or cloud security questionnaire. A corporation will frequently demand a vendor risk assessment questionnaire before agreeing to a partnership or third-party vendor contract.

The vendor risk assessment questionnaire is crucial, as It enables businesses to find potential security flaws in their vendors, partners, and third parties. As a result, they may plan for worst-case scenarios and, ideally, avert them by being aware of where those gaps exist.

10 Key elements of a vendor risk assessment questionnaire

It would be best if you covered a few fundamental topics or elements in your vendor risk assessment questionnaire. No matter how your business is organized or how secure your network of third parties is, you must understand how they relate to your business and how they can be a potential threat or might even carry the slightest risk that will harm you at some point.

Here are the 10 key elements that you should consider when preparing your vendor risk assessment questionnaire. In the later section, you will also find 40 sample questions that will help you to design the vendor risk assessment questionnaire your business need.

1. Basic vendor information:

The vendor should provide basic information about themselves, including their name, address, and contact information.

2. Security practices:

Inquire about the vendor’s data protection policies, incident response plans, employee training, and compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

3. Compliance with regulations:

Make sure the vendor complies with relevant privacy laws and regulations in their industry.

4. Data protection and privacy:

This should include questions about the vendor’s policies and procedures for protecting data during transmission, storage, and access.

5. Change management:

Find out how the vendor documents testing, documentation, and communication associated with their change management processes.

6. Business continuity and disaster recovery:

Examine the vendor’s plans for ensuring the availability of critical systems in the event of a disruption or disaster and the security of data.

7. Outsourcing and third-party relationships:

Include questions about the vendor’s use of third-party service providers or subcontractors, and how these relationships are managed and monitored.

8. Data processing and storage:

This should include questions about the vendor’s policies and procedures for managing data processing and storage, including in the cloud or on external servers.

9. Data transmission:

Make sure you ask about the vendor’s policies and procedures for protecting data when sending through the internet or other networks, such as via email.

10. Risk management:

Inquire about the vendor’s documented risk assessment and risk management processes, including how risks are identified, evaluated, and mitigated.

It’s important to remember that you should consider the responses to all of these questions with a grain of salt. Parties may intentionally or accidentally provide inaccurate responses. Therefore you should proceed with caution by comparing your study of their self-reported behaviors to theirs.

This is the reason why having a proper vendor risk assessment questionnaire is one of the most crucial steps—though by no means the only one.

7 Best practices for vendor risk assessment questionnaires

A well-designed vendor risk assessment questionnaire can help organizations effectively identify and mitigate these risks.

Here are some best practices for designing and implementing a vendor risk assessment questionnaire:

1. Determine the scope of the questionnaire: 

The parameters of the survey, such as the suppliers who will be reviewed and the risks that will be assessed must be specified precisely. Thus, the questionnaire will be more relevant and focused.

2. Identify the key stakeholders: 

The process of vendor risk assessment must include participation from relevant stakeholders, which must be identified. For example, the procurement team members, IT employees, legal counsel, and other essential parties may be mentioned here. Ensuring that these stakeholders are involved in the questionnaire design process can help make sure that all relevant risks are captured.

3. Use a consistent format: 

It should be ensured that the data collected is simple to compare and evaluate by using a consistent structure for the questionnaire. To ensure that every vendor is evaluated equally, consider adopting a consistent form or template.

4. Include relevant questions: 

The survey should ask questions that are relevant to the particular risks connected to the vendor and the goods or services being offered. For example, inquire about the vendor’s data protection procedures, incident response strategies, and adherence to relevant legal requirements.

5. Make the questionnaire comprehensive: 

The questionnaire should be thorough enough to capture all essential risks without being overly lengthy such that it is difficult for suppliers to complete. Finding the ideal balance is crucial.

6. Allow for follow-up: 

A provision for additional questions or clarification should be included in the questionnaire. This can support ensuring the accuracy and thoroughness of the risk assessment.

7. Keep the questionnaire up to date: 

To make sure the questionnaire is still useful and effective, it should be evaluated and updated on a regular basis. This could entail adding fresh inquiries or deleting outmoded ones as necessary.

By following these best practices, organizations can create a vendor risk assessment questionnaire that effectively identifies and mitigates risks associated with doing business with vendors.