As organizations continue to expand their digital ecosystems and rely heavily on third-party partnerships, the cybersecurity landscape has become significantly more complex and demanding. QKS Group reports that the User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) market is projected to register a remarkable CAGR of 40.55% by 2028. This strong growth trajectory reflects the escalating need for advanced behavior-based security solutions capable of detecting sophisticated threats that traditional tools often miss.

In the modern business environment, enterprises increasingly collaborate with an extensive network of third parties—including vendors, suppliers, consultants, freelancers, and managed service providers—to optimize operations, reduce costs, expand capabilities, and accelerate time-to-market. These partnerships have become essential to achieving operational agility and maintaining a competitive edge in the marketplace. However, the extensive exchange of sensitive data that accompanies such collaborations brings a heightened level of risk that organizations must actively address.

The Expanding Third-Party Risk Landscape

Digital transformation, globalization, and the rapid adoption of cloud technologies have fundamentally reshaped how organizations operate. As companies outsource key business functions such as IT support, payroll management, logistics, and customer data handling, third-party vendors gain access to critical systems and highly sensitive information. This includes personally identifiable information (PII), financial records, intellectual property, business strategy documents, and proprietary technologies.

While these partnerships are indispensable, they create a larger and more complex attack surface. A single security incident involving a third-party vendor can lead to significant consequences, including operational disruptions, regulatory penalties, financial losses, and lasting reputational damage. High-profile breaches involving trusted third parties have highlighted the vulnerabilities inherent in extended digital supply chains.

Traditional cybersecurity tools, which often focus on signature-based or rule-based threat detection, are inadequate for identifying the subtle, behavioral anomalies that frequently precede insider threats, account takeovers, or credential misuse. This growing gap in traditional defenses has accelerated the demand for more advanced solutions—driving the rapid expansion of the UEBA market.

Protecting Against Third-Party Risks With UEBA

One of the most compelling value propositions of UEBA lies in its ability to mitigate risks associated with third-party vendors. Unlike internal employees, third-party users often have temporary or limited access rights, making it more challenging for security teams to monitor their activity consistently. UEBA closes this gap by continuously analyzing the behavioral patterns of every user and device—whether internal, external, or automated.

Key benefits of using UEBA for third-party risk management include:

1. Continuous Monitoring of External Users

Third-party users frequently access sensitive systems from remote locations or shared networks. User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) market ensures their activities are monitored in real time, allowing organizations to detect abnormal behavior instantly.

2. Detection of Credential Misuse

Stolen or compromised credentials are among the most common causes of third-party breaches. UEBA solutions identify unusual login locations, abnormal session timings, and unauthorized system access that could indicate compromised accounts.

3. Enhanced Visibility Into Vendor Activities

UEBA provides detailed insights into what third-party users are doing, when they are doing it, and why. This helps organizations differentiate between legitimate activities and suspicious actions requiring immediate attention.

4. Prevention of Insider or Malicious Third-Party Threats

Some breaches stem from malicious intent by external contractors or former employees. UEBA’s behavior-based analytics offer early detection of insider-like threats across third-party ecosystems.

5. Support for Compliance and Auditing

In heavily regulated industries, continuous monitoring and detailed behavioral logs help organizations maintain compliance with standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and ISO 27001.

Driving the Need for UEBA in a Hyperconnected World

The explosive growth of the UEBA market is driven by several overarching trends:

• Rapid cloud adoption has decentralized IT environments, increasing the complexity of monitoring user behavior.
• Hybrid work models allow users to access corporate networks from various devices and locations, increasing the likelihood of anomalies.
• Rising insider threats—intentional or accidental—require advanced monitoring tools capable of identifying risky behavior not detected by traditional systems.
• Increasing supply chain attacks make it imperative to monitor not only employees but also every third party interacting with enterprise systems.
• Regulatory pressure is pushing organizations to strengthen controls over third-party access and data protection practices.

As threat actors continue to employ more sophisticated techniques—such as credential stuffing, privilege escalation, and stealthy lateral movement—organizations are shifting from perimeter-based security models to dynamic, intelligence-driven frameworks where behavioral analytics play a central role.

UEBA’s Role in the Future of Cybersecurity

Looking ahead, User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) market will serve as a foundational element of modern security architectures, particularly within Zero Trust frameworks. Its ability to continuously assess trust levels based on real-time behavior aligns perfectly with the “never trust, always verify” principle.

Future advancements in the UEBA market will likely include:

• Deeper integration with SIEM, SOAR, identity management, and endpoint security tools
• More sophisticated machine-learning models for detecting subtle anomalies
• Automated risk scoring that prioritizes threats based on potential impact
• Greater emphasis on monitoring non-human entities such as bots, APIs, and service accounts
• Expanded support for cloud-native and multi-cloud environments

As organizations navigate an increasingly interconnected digital world, UEBA will be pivotal in protecting sensitive information, reducing third-party risk, and strengthening overall cyber resilience.

Conclusion

QKS Group projects a robust CAGR of 40.55% for the User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) market by 2028, underscoring the critical role behavioral analytics will play in future cybersecurity strategies. As third-party dependencies rise and digital ecosystems grow more complex, organizations must adopt proactive, intelligent security frameworks that go beyond traditional controls.