Vendor Risk Assessment Questionnaire

Your organization's security is only as strong as your weakest vendor. Supply chain attacks, third-party data breaches, and vendor security failures have become some of the most common and devastating attack vectors in recent years — from SolarWinds to MOVEit, the pattern is clear. ISO 27001 and NIS2 both require organizations to assess and manage the security risks posed by their suppliers and service providers. This vendor risk assessment questionnaire provides a structured, professional framework for evaluating the security posture of your vendors before onboarding them and periodically throughout the relationship. The questionnaire covers the critical security domains that matter when entrusting a vendor with your data or integrating their services into your operations: organizational security governance, access control and identity management, data protection and encryption, network and infrastructure security, application security, business continuity and disaster recovery, incident management, compliance and regulatory adherence, and personnel security. Each domain includes targeted questions with multiple-choice response options, follow-up prompts for deeper investigation, and a risk scoring methodology that produces an objective vendor risk rating. What makes this template particularly practical is its tiered assessment approach. Not every vendor needs the same level of scrutiny — your cloud hosting provider handling customer data warrants a more thorough assessment than your office supply vendor. The template includes a vendor classification matrix that helps you categorize vendors by the criticality of data or systems they access, then tailors the assessment depth accordingly. Critical vendors receive the full questionnaire; low-risk vendors receive an abbreviated version. This risk-based approach ensures thoroughness where it matters while avoiding unnecessary overhead. The template also includes a vendor risk register for tracking assessment results across your entire vendor portfolio, identifying trends, and prioritizing follow-up actions for vendors that fall below your acceptable risk threshold.