Stop doing security questionnaire answers the old way

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Security questionnaires have long been a standard part of third-party risk management. If your company processes sensitive customer data, you've likely filled out hundreds—maybe thousands—of these forms. From the Cloud Security Alliance CAIQ to industry-specific frameworks like HECVAT, the goal has always been to assess vendor security with consistency and transparency.

But for many security teams, the process is anything but efficient. Answers are pulled from outdated spreadsheets or rebuilt from scratch. Responses are manually tailored to each requester, even when 90% of questions overlap. And validating those answers? That’s often an afterthought.

Why it matters: Relying on self-reported answers alone exposes your organization to unnecessary risk. With increasing regulatory scrutiny and real consequences for third-party failures, it's time to modernize your approach.

How security questionnaires have worked historically

Security questionnaires—also called due diligence questionnaires or DDQs—originated as a way for businesses to validate their vendors' security practices. Before a contract is signed or a data connection is made, third-party risk managers send vendors lengthy questionnaires covering everything from encryption protocols to personnel training.

The responses are almost always self-attested. That is, the vendor provides the answers, and the buyer decides whether to trust them.

To simplify the process, industry-wide standards emerged:

CAIQ from the Cloud Security Alliance is widely used for cloud service providers and aligned with the Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM).

HECVAT developed by EDUCAUSE supports higher education institutions looking to assess SaaS vendors quickly.

SIG by Shared Assessments is a modular, cross-industry set that helps organizations assess risk at various levels of detail.

While these standards improved consistency, the underlying process stayed the same: repetitive, manual, and inefficient.

Common challenges with traditional DDQ workflows

Despite standardization efforts, responding to security questionnaires remains a painful process for many organizations. Here’s why:

Manual duplication eats time. Teams often answer similar questions dozens of times because each questionnaire is formatted differently, or slightly reworded, rendering past answers useless without rework.

Point-in-time answers are unreliable. Security environments change. Answers written six months ago might not reflect your current controls or policies. If you're recycling stale responses, accuracy suffers.

Risk teams suffer from low confidence. Buyers typically don't audit vendor responses unless the vendor fails. That can mean critical risks go unnoticed until it’s too late—putting both sides of the relationship at risk.

Auditors may not be qualified. Many vendors try to validate questionnaire responses through certifications, but not all assessments are created equal. SOC 2 exams must be performed by licensed CPA firms. ISO 27001 certifications require accredited bodies. Using shortcut providers or combining roles (like auditor and implementer) undermines trust.

Third-party incidents still happen. Despite the proliferation of questionnaires, nearly half of organizations surveyed by Gartner experienced a third-party-related business interruption in the past two years. Something isn't working.

The shift toward automation and continuous validation

By 2026, the due diligence process will look fundamentally different—because it must. As third-party ecosystems grow more complex, due diligence needs to be faster, more accurate, and easier to validate.

We're already seeing key shifts:

AI-powered tools replace manual entry. Instead of manually pasting in past answers, leading platforms like Thoropass use GenAI to auto-generate responses based on your prior answers and uploaded evidence. The final output is verified by human reviewers before submission.

Trust centers reduce repetitive requests. Rather than fielding DDQs ad hoc, organizations increasingly publish certifications, policies, and responses in a centralized portal, available for customers to access on demand. That alone can shrink incoming requests by 30–50%.

Independent assurance takes center stage. Buyers will move beyond self-attested questionnaires and ask for verified, third-party assurance. SOC 2, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS assessments provide validated, evidence-based proof of your controls in action.

Framework reuse improves agility. By mapping existing controls to structured frameworks like CCM or TSC (Trust Services Criteria), organizations can answer more questions with less work. Reusable evidence across frameworks reduces redundancy and speeds up audits.

When used together, these trends point to a more automated, less painful future for both sides of the questionnaire exchange.

What the security questionnaire process will look like in 2026

In just a couple of years, we expect a typical security questionnaire workflow to look like this:

You receive a DDQ request. Instead of starting from zero, your compliance platform recognizes the format and maps it against your library of previous answers.

Draft answers are auto-generated. Based on uploaded documentation—such as your SOC 2 report, policies, or control evidence—your platform fills in most answers automatically.

Human reviewers check for accuracy. Roles within your team review flagged items, update key context, and confirm that responses reflect your current control environment.

Trust documentation is shared securely. Your Trust Center provides validated certifications and relevant artifacts, reducing the buyer’s need for follow-ups or additional assurance requests.

Third-party assurance replaces self-attestation. When buyers ask for proof, you point them to your SOC 2 Type 2 report, ISO 27001 certification, or PCI DSS Attestation of Compliance—each aligned to recognized frameworks and reviewed by independent, accredited auditors.

This process not only shortens sales cycles and improves buyer trust, but it also frees your security team to focus on real risk management—not retyping the same answers.

How Thoropass modernizes the DDQ process

Thoropass replaces outdated, error‑prone DDQ workflows with GenAI-powered automation, built-in trust tooling, and end-to-end compliance expertise. Here's how.

Generate accurate answers—automatically. Thoropass Due Diligence Questionnaires use closed-loop GenAI to auto-populate answers based on your prior submissions and source documents. No public model exposure, no uncontrolled training. Just fast, privacy-preserving answers.

Enable human-in-the-loop validation. Your team reviews and approves each answer before submission—ensuring responses are current, consistent, and client-ready.

Avoid repetitive questions with the Trust Center. Thoropass customers get a public-facing hub to share documents, policies, and certifications. You control access. Prospective buyers get what they need—no extra emails required.

Get recognized third-party assurance under one roof. We deliver SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and HITRUST assessments directly through Thoropass. That means fewer vendors to manage and 100% confidence that your auditors meet the necessary standards—whether you need a licensed CPA, an accredited CB, or a PCI QSA.

Map controls across frameworks. Thoropass connects your control library to multiple frameworks at once—letting you reuse validated evidence across audit types and DDQ formats.

Scale with your business. Whether you're new to compliance or expanding into new markets, Thoropass grows with you—cutting prep time, improving consistency, and eliminating busywork.

The bottom line

The way security questionnaires have always been done—manual, repetitive, and point-in-time—isn’t enough anymore. With rising buyer expectations and more complex regulatory demands, self-reported answers alone can’t carry the weight.

Thoropass transforms the DDQ process by automating responses, embedding assurance, and integrating your entire audit readiness program—from evidence collection to certification delivery. That means fewer hours lost, fewer risks missed, and more deals closed with confidence.

It’s time to stop doing security questionnaires the old way—and let Thoropass lead the way forward.

Schedule a discovery session today to see how Thoropass can modernize your DDQ response process.