As contractors grant more outside parties access to company data, they must protect their information from being mishandled or altered. While some data breaches are beyond a company’s control, many are preventable.

Parties up and down the supply chain are worried about managing their reputation, maintaining their market value, and addressing regulatory requirements. In the event of a breach, the company that owns the information is often perceived as the one to blame (e.g., few can recall the name of the HVAC contractor that led to the 2013 Target data breach).