F1 IT Solutions and Panorays partner to bring continuous third-party cyber risk management to South Africa
New MSSP partnership gives businesses in South Africa, the UK and Europe a fully managed answer to a risk regulators now put squarely on the board's agenda.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa and NEW YORK, USA, 1 September 2026. F1 IT Solutions, the Cape Town based managed IT and security services provider, and Panorays, a global provider of third-party cybersecurity management software, today announced a partnership that brings continuous third-party cyber risk management to businesses in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe as a fully managed service. F1 IT Solutions delivers the Panorays platform as an approved Panorays MSSP partner across South Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe.
The partnership arrives as regulators sharpen their focus on supply chain security. Joint Standard 2 of 2024, in force since 1 June 2025, makes the governing bodies of South African banks, insurers, retirement funds and other financial institutions ultimately responsible for cyber resilience, including the protection of assets managed by third parties, and requires material cyber incidents to be reported to the authorities. The Prudential Authority says it continues to engage the sector on cyber resilience maturity, and the Information Regulator has issued enforcement notices and fines under POPIA, which carries penalties of up to R10 million, to organisations whose suppliers were breached. The exposure is not theoretical: IBM's 2025 Cost of a Data Breach research found third-party and supply chain compromise to be the most common initial attack vector in South Africa, with the average local breach costing R44.1 million.
Under the agreement, F1 maps each client's suppliers, assesses them through external attack surface evaluations and AI-powered security questionnaires, scores every vendor with a continuously updated cyber posture rating, monitors continuously for new exposures and breaches, drives remediation with suppliers, and produces the evidence boards and regulators now expect. The platform requires no software installation by clients or their vendors, and is certified to ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 42001 for AI governance.
F1 IT Solutions is also putting itself through the same discipline it manages for clients: the company has begun its own ISO/IEC 27001 certification programme, targeting completion in the first quarter of 2027, as part of its managed security commitment.
“Every week a South African company discovers that its data walked out through a supplier's door, and the regulators have made it clear that the excuse era is over. We have spent 16 years on both sides of the vendor security questionnaire, so we know exactly how broken the manual process is. We partnered with Panorays because it is the best platform in the world at this, and we back it with a local team that takes full ownership. Our clients can now see, score and fix their supply chain risk continuously, and prove it to any board or regulator who asks.”
“South Africa's regulators have put third-party cyber risk on every board agenda, and F1 IT Solutions is exactly the partner to help companies act on it. Their hands-on security pedigree and local trust, combined with the Panorays platform, give businesses in the region a complete answer to supply chain risk.”
The managed service is available immediately across South Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe. Demonstrations can be booked through info@f1itsolutions.co.za.
For the plain-language version of this announcement, read what the Panorays partnership means for South African businesses.
About F1 IT Solutions
F1 IT Solutions is a managed IT and security services provider headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, serving clients across South Africa, the United Kingdom, Europe and North America for over 16 years. F1 delivers managed IT, cybersecurity and third-party risk management services, partners with world-class technology vendors including Panorays, Sophos, Barracuda, ESET, Acronis, Microsoft and Dell Technologies, and is pursuing ISO/IEC 27001 certification. Learn more at f1itsolutions.co.za.
About Panorays
Panorays is a global provider of third-party cybersecurity management software. Adopted by leading financial, healthcare, and enterprise organizations worldwide, Panorays helps businesses optimize defenses and proactively manage third-party cyber risk. Headquartered in New York and Israel, Panorays is backed by Aleph VC, Oak HC/FT, Greenfield Partners, and StepStone Group. Learn more at panorays.com.
Media contacts
F1 IT Solutions: Gillian Hansen, gillian@f1itsolutions.co.za
Panorays: Tom Gottlieb, tom.g@panorays.com
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