By Alex Rechester, Chief Business Officer at CloudWize
As businesses accelerate cloud adoption, their supply chains now rely on a growing number of third-party SaaS platforms, data processors, and infrastructure tools. These vendors drive agility—but they also expand the attack surface. And recent breaches prove just how critical it is to secure not only your own cloud, but the vendors you trust.
Yet many organizations still assess vendor security using static checklists, spreadsheets, or self-attested forms. These outdated methods fall short in a cloud-native world where configurations change daily—and risk can originate far outside your own perimeter.
The Commvault Breach: A Wake-Up Call for the Cloud Supply Chain
In May 2025, attackers exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Commvault’s Metallic SaaS backup platform, which operates on Microsoft Azure. The breach gave unauthorized access to client secrets, potentially impacting Microsoft 365 environments across Commvault’s customer base.
According to TechRadar, “the breach may have exposed credentials and backup data used by downstream enterprise environments”—prompting a CISA advisory.
This wasn’t a single-company issue. It was a cloud supply chain compromise—and most affected organizations had no real-time visibility into what was happening until after it was too late.
Why Traditional Vendor Risk Assessments Fall Short
Most supplier security reviews are:
- Static – snapshots in time, not dynamic environments
- Manual – slow, inconsistent, and based on forms
- Subjective – rely on vendor-reported posture
- Unscalable – not viable across global vendor ecosystems
No form would have revealed Commvault’s internal vulnerability. Only real-time, technical validation can surface that level of risk.
What’s Needed: A Cloud Security Center of Excellence
A Cloud Security Center of Excellence (CSCoE) is a strategic, operational, and technical approach that allows organizations to:
- Standardize cloud supplier risk evaluations
- Continuously monitor real-world posture
- Align with compliance frameworks like ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, NIST 800-53
- Empower security teams, DevOps, and MSSPs with shared visibility
- Reduce breach exposure and onboarding delays
How CloudWize Enables a Cloud Security Center of Excellence
CloudWize connects securely—without agents—to third-party cloud environments via API, enabling:
- IAM risk detection – MFA gaps, over-permissioned roles, privilege escalation paths
- Secrets exposure monitoring – hardcoded tokens in IaC, pipelines, backups
- API misconfiguration alerts – exposed endpoints, missing authentication
- Real-time CVE scans – continuously identify vulnerabilities in workloads
- Compliance mapping – automated reports aligned to ISO, SOC 2, GDPR, NIST
- Drift detection – track unauthorized changes in vendor environments
- CI/CD & IaC scanning – uncover security risks in DevOps pipelines
- Web app posture review – simulate OWASP Top 10 risks
Whether you’re onboarding a vendor, assessing a supplier mid-contract, or operating as an MSSP, CloudWize gives you real, actionable data.
Why This Matters Now
Cloud supply chains are increasingly targeted. Incidents like SolarWinds, MOVEit, and Commvault Metallic prove that attackers aim for the weakest link—and often, it’s not you. It’s your vendor.
A CSCoE model ensures your security isn’t reliant on static forms or blind trust. It brings real-time validation, visibility, and control.
Final Thoughts
Third-party cloud risk isn’t going away—it’s accelerating. If your organization is still managing vendor security through documents and delays, now is the time to evolve.
CloudWize offers the industry’s first true Cloud Security Center of Excellence, giving you continuous insight, evidence-backed validation, and scalable control across your cloud supply chain.
Because visibility isn’t a luxury. It’s a requirement.
Request a demo to see CloudWize in Action here.
