Top 10 Automated Risk Assessment Tools in the US

According to Gartner, 40% of compliance leaders say 11% to 40% of their third parties are high-risk. A third-party breach can quickly disrupt operations and damage hard-earned trust with customers and regulators. An automated TPRM tool can enhance real-time visibility, compliance readiness, and ethical governance.

This blog post reviews the top 10 automated third-party risk management tools in the US, focusing on the features that matter most: continuous monitoring, automated assessments, compliance tracking, intuitive dashboards, seamless integrations, and overall ease of use.

What is an Automated Risk Assessment in Third-Party Risk Management?

An automated third-party risk assessment is the use of technology to evaluate, score, and monitor the risks associated with third parties without relying on manual processes. It uses AI, data analytics, and rule-based systems to assess risk exposures in real-time, with human oversight as needed. 

The approach has transformed how organizations assess and mitigate third-party risks, especially as dependence on external service providers continues to expand across critical operations.

Automated risk assessments act as a digital watchdog, continuously checking for compliance breaches, anomalies, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, financial instability, and operational inefficiencies across your third-party ecosystem.

The image highlights the key features of automated third-party risk assessment.

Top 10 Risk Assessment Software Solutions for 2024

1. ComplyScore® by Atlas Systems

ComplyScore® is an autonomous third-party risk management platform that delivers end-to-end vendor risk governance within a unified, enterprise-grade framework. It enables organizations to assess, monitor, and mitigate risks associated with vendors, suppliers, and partners. Risk assessments and vendor onboarding happen in under 10 days, so you can start collaborations faster while staying fully compliant and reducing third-party risk. ComplyScore® is ideal for organizations in industries with complex regulatory environments and supports global compliance standards like HIPAA, NIST, ISO 27K, SIG, and SOC 2.

Key features

• Comprehensive vendor governance: ComplyScore® offers tools for onboarding, due diligence, and ongoing risk oversight
• AI-powered risk assessments: The platform uses AI risk scoring to assess a vendor’s cybersecurity, financial, operational, and regulatory posture for effective classification
• Real-time monitoring: Vendor monitoring happens in real-time, enabling the identification of vulnerabilities and potential threats
• Powerful integrations: ComplyScore® integrates smoothly with leading enterprise systems, ensuring seamless data flow and alignment across risk and operational ecosystems
• Scalability: The automated risk assessment tool is designed to scale, with multi-language support and features that make managing international vendor networks effortless

Pros

• Vendor risk assessments take less than 10 days: ComplyScore® completes vendor risk assessments in less than 10 days, which is way below the industry average (30-45 days)
• Up to 95% vendor coverage: The platform gives you visibility into 95% of your vendors, not just your top few. The industry average is 25-30%
• Onboarding in under 10 days: Our automated risk assessment tool cuts down the onboarding period to less than 10 days. The industry average is 45-60 days
• Responsive support: Many user reviews highlight the responsiveness and expertise of the customer support team
• Managed services: The managed service option is beneficial for companies with limited in-house resources. Atlas Systems experts act as an extension of your internal team, handling risk assessments and remediation

Customer review

"I have been using ComplyScore for several months, and my experience has been largely positive. The platform provides comprehensive solutions for compliance management, streamlining our operations efficiently."

Reviewer - IT Security & Risk Management Associate

Company - IT Services

Source: Gartner

2. Panorays

This automated third-party risk assessment software enables organizations to assess and continuously monitor their vendors’ security posture by combining external attack surface evaluations, automated questionnaires, and business-criticality analysis. 

Key features

• Risk DNA assessments: The customized risk scores factor in each vendor’s business impact and your business context
• External attack surface monitoring: Panorays doesn’t just monitor vendors’ external digital footprint; it also monitors fourth and fifth parties for vulnerabilities

Pros

• Automation efficiency: Automated vendor assessments and questionnaires significantly reduce the time and manual effort required for due diligence
• Contextual risk insights: The platform combines business context, vendor criticality, and real-time security data into dynamic risk ratings to help organizations prioritize threats and strengthen overall supply chain resilience

Cons

• Implementation can be complex: New users may require specialized onboarding to fully optimize the features and analytics 
• Pricing not public: Since pricing isn’t publicly disclosed, it’s difficult to compare the tool directly with similar solutions

3. UpGuard

Three features make UpGuard stand out from other platforms: its rapid, non-intrusive scanning, a focus on technical data accuracy for security ratings, and a comprehensive TPRM lifecycle approach.

Key features

• Automated security ratings: The platform continuously monitors vendors’ external security posture and assigns a score, helping organizations manage supplier risks effectively

• Multi-framework support: Ensures third parties meet standards like GDPR, NDFS, PCI DSS, and helps automate documentation

Pros

• Comprehensive risk assessments: UpGuard combines external security ratings with internal questionnaires and data leak detection, offering a comprehensive view of vendor risk
• Scalability: UpGuard scales well if you have many vendors thanks to automation, AI, and continuous monitoring

Cons

• Feature shortcomings: Some users have complained that the platform lacks advanced functionality around detailed report handling and asset filtering
• Cost concerns: You need extra licenses to monitor multiple companies 

4. Bitsight

BitSight uses a unique combination of AI and human curation to map a company's digital footprint and understand its cyber risk.

Key features

• Comprehensive TPRM management: Bitsight provides a clear, quantifiable score for each third-party, helping companies to prioritize vendor assessments 
• Attack surface management: The platform gives organizations a comprehensive view of their digital footprint, helping them identify and manage unknown assets and potential vulnerabilities

Pros

• Data-driven analytics: Bitsight uses data science to provide organizations with advanced analytics and to financially quantify cyber risk
• Daily security ratings: The platform measures vendor security performance daily based on externally collected data

Cons

• Overreliance on external data: Bitsight's ratings are based on externally observable data, so it may give an incomplete picture of security posture
• Slow remediation updates: Once a vulnerability is fixed, it may take a while before the change is reflected in the security rating, which can be frustrating for companies working to improve their score

5. ProcessUnity

This highly configurable, no-code platform allows enterprises to quickly customize risk management workflows. It offers pre-built components for third-party risk management.

Key features

• Highly configurable: Organizations can customize their workflows, questionnaires, and reports to match their unique processes and requirements
• Global Risk Exchange: The platform has a large, shared database of third-party risk data, which lets companies easily access completed and validated vendor assessments

Pros

• Customizable: Organizations can customize questionnaires, workflows, dashboards, and risk scoring models to fit their specific needs
• Comprehensive features: ProcessUnity's TPRM platform covers the entire third-party risk lifecycle, from due diligence to offboarding

Cons

• Setup can be complex: Smaller businesses or those without dedicated resources for GRC platform management may find the initial configuration challenging
• Clunky user interface: The user interface can be challenging to navigate, especially when making changes that require specific formulas or logic

6. Prevalent

Prevalent, now a part of Mitratech, provides enterprises with comprehensive tools to assess, monitor, and remediate risks throughout the entire vendor lifecycle.

Key features

• Vendor risk networks: Organizations have access to libraries of completed, standardized risk reports for thousands of vendors to accelerate due diligence and enrich assessments
• AI-powered automation: AI automates many aspects of the TPRM process, from auto-scoring assessments to risk remediation guidance

Pros

• Managed services: Enterprises can pay for experts to conduct risk assessments, identify potential risks, and track remediation
• Secure vendor portal: Vendors can complete questionnaires, submit documentation, and collaborate on remediation efforts on the secure online portal

Cons

• Complex feature set: The platform’s advanced features may require onboarding and training
• Reporting limitations: Some users have complained that the reporting features lack the depth and customization needed for highly specific analytical requirements

7. MetricStream

This third-party risk assessment tool strongly focuses on risk quantification, uses advanced AI/ML-powered analytics for anomaly detection, and offers seamless vendor integration capabilities.

Key features

• Integrated GRC Platform: MetricStream offers a more unified approach to managing enterprise-wide risk, compliance, and audit activities
• AI-powered risk identification: Pre-trained AI models review third-party responses to identify, rate, and recommend remediation of risks

Pros

• Fourth-party risk assessment: Extends risk assessment to fourth parties by capturing related entities, aggregating risk exposure, and automating monitoring for a holistic risk view
• Scalability: The platform allows you to add new modules and functionalities as needed

Cons

• Setup can be complex: Leveraging the full capabilities may require significant setup, configuration, and training 
• Occasional performance issues: Some users report that the platform can be sluggish when generating complex reports or running large assessments.

8. LogicGate

This platform offers third-party risk management as part of its overarching GRC solution. Its key differentiators include seamless integration of external data sources like Black Kite and user-designed risk scoring models.

Key features

• Automated vendor onboarding and offboarding: The software streamlines vendor processes with pre-built workflows
• No-code platform: Users without technical expertise can customize workflows, forms, reports, and dashboards for rapid deployment

Pros

• Workflow automation: LogicGate automates repetitive risk assessment tasks and notification workflows, boosting efficiency and reducing human error
• Industry-standard questionnaires: The platform offers pre-built templates aligned with NIST, SIG, CAIQ, and more

Cons

• Steep learning curve: The platform can be overwhelming for non-technical end-users who only need to interact with specific workflows
• Reporting limitations: Some power users have complained that achieving highly detailed or customized reports may require additional effort or the use of external tools

9. Vanta

Vanta’s centralized vendor inventory automatically identifies and catalogs vendors, providing holistic visibility into vendor exposure.

Key features

• Risk scoring: Pre-built vendor scoring tools can be customized to organize vendors by inherent risk
• Vendor portal: This collaborative hub allows companies to evaluate vendor risk and vendors to securely respond to due diligence requests

Pros

• Continuous monitoring: The automated risk assessment tool tracks vendor attack surfaces and real-time security issues, issuing alerts with context and mitigation suggestions
• Powerful integrations: Vanta integrates with popular SaaS, cloud, HR, and procurement systems for centralized risk management and workflow automation

Cons

• Reporting limitations: Reporting features are largely pre-set, and users have challenges customizing or exporting deep analytics for internal use or audits
• Expensive: The platform can be costly for small or early-stage organizations

10. CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike employs a cloud-native approach with a unified AI engine, providing comprehensive protection across an organization’s entire digital supply chain.

Key features

• Attack surface management: The platform identifies vulnerabilities in vendors’ digital footprints, reducing blind spots in third-party ecosystems
• Endpoint detection and response: The Falcon platform provides continuous visibility into endpoint activity, intelligently prioritizing malicious activity to ensure security teams respond quickly

Pros

• Risk prioritization: Uses contextual intelligence to ensure organizations focus on the most critical vulnerabilities or vendor risks
• Advanced threat detection: Its high-fidelity threat detection, powered by AI-driven analytics and a large threat intelligence database, helps to stop breaches before they cause serious damage

Cons

• Costly for smaller firms: Its enterprise focus limits adoption among smaller businesses seeking pure TPRM functionality
• Complex setup: Some advanced features and integrations can be complex to set up and require expert knowledge

Secure Your Business in a Vendor-Driven World with ComplyScore® by Atlas Systems

Risk assessment is crucial for any organization seeking to remain compliant with industry regulations and safeguard its systems against malicious actors. An automated risk assessment tool, such as ComplyScore®, provides visibility into vendor risks and helps you mitigate them before they significantly impact your organization.

Stay ahead of cybercriminals by automating vendor risk assessments, monitoring compliance, and streamlining audits. ComplyScore® gives you the visibility and control you need to protect sensitive data, meet regulatory requirements, and foster strong vendor relationships in a rapidly evolving business environment.

Ready to secure your vendor ecosystem? Request a demo of ComplyScore® today.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What differentiates automated TPRM from traditional risk management?

Automated TPRM leverages AI, natural language processing, data analytics, and automation to identify, evaluate, and quantify cybersecurity risks. Traditional risk management involves manually performing risk assessments using spreadsheets and conducting manual checks.

2. How does ComplyScore® integrate with existing enterprise systems?

ComplyScore® uses API connections to integrate with existing enterprise systems. This ensures seamless, real-time data exchange.

3. Can ComplyScore® handle global third-party vendors and regulations?

ComplyScore® comes pre-aligned with global compliance frameworks, such as GDPR, ISO 27001, and SOC 2, and has been implemented in over 65 countries.

4. What industries are best suited for ComplyScore®?

ComplyScore® is ideal for organizations in highly regulated industries like healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, energy, and government.

5. How frequently should risk assessments be performed?

Risk assessments should be performed whenever there are significant regulatory changes, new vendors, or system updates.

6. What level of support does Atlas Systems provide during implementation?

Atlas Systems provides full implementation support, including onboarding guidance, ongoing training, and continuous assistance.