CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Black Kite vs Thoropass

Black Kite sells an AI-native third-party cyber risk management platform. Thoropass is a licensed auditor that delivers audits, supported by purpose built software. CISO Tribune files both under Third-party risk and security ratings. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Black Kite
  • Thoropass
Black Kite vs Thoropass: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
Black KiteBlack Kite sells an AI-native third-party cyber risk management platform.blackkite.comThoropassThoropass is a licensed auditor that delivers audits, supported by purpose built software.thoropass.com
What it sells
  • Cyber Risk Quantification[1][4][10]Translates technical cyber risk into financial terms.
  • Ransomware Threat Intelligence[4][12]Connects ransomware intelligence to vendor risk through the Ransomware Susceptibility Index.
  • Vendor Risk Monitoring[4][8]Continuous monitoring of vendor cyber risk.
  • Black Kite Extend[4][8][9]Maps fourth- and fifth-party relationships through automated supply chain mapping.
  • Vendor Risk Assessment[4][13]AI-powered vendor risk assessments.
  • Vendor Compliance Management[15]Continuous monitoring, framework assessments and reporting for vendor compliance.
  • Audit Lifecycle Platform[4][6][11][17][18]A centralized system that manages the audit process from readiness through final reporting.
  • First Pass[11]AI-powered evidence review that runs before evidence reaches the auditor.
  • Smart Sort[11][12][17]Analyzes incoming evidence and maps it to the appropriate audit requirement.
  • Thoropass MCP ServerLets customers use the Audit Lifecycle Platform from AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT.
  • Thoropass Risk Register[5][16]Reviews and mitigates risk in the same platform used for readiness and audit.
  • Thoropass Trust Center[14]A public-facing portal that shows a customer's compliance posture.
Categories
Headquarters
Boston, United States[2]New York, United States[3]
Founded
2016[3]2019[2][3]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • November 2, 2026Black Kite announced a new integration with CrowdStrike that delivers third-party vendor risk intelligence into CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM.[17]
  • October 21, 2026Black Kite announced the release of Quantum Readiness, a new set of controls in the SSL/TLS Strength category of its Cyber Rating.[18]
  • September 17, 2026Black Kite released its 2026 Manufacturing & Distribution Ransomware Report.[19]
  • August 18, 2026Black Kite released a report on mid-market organizations covering ransomware, third-party risk and the AI gap.[20]
  • July 28, 2026Black Kite appointed Jim Clancy as a Strategic Advisor.[21]
  • July 9, 2026Thoropass launched an MCP server that lets customers connect their organizations' AI agents with its Audit Lifecycle Platform.[18]
  • January 29, 2026Thoropass launched Smart Sort AI, a feature in its Audit Lifecycle Platform that turns exports from any GRC tool into audit-ready evidence.[17]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 4, 2026[5]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 4, 2026[10]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, Black Kite sells mainly to organizations running third-party and supply chain cyber risk programs. It names GRC managers, CISOs, third-party risk teams and security operations teams as groups it serves. It says finance, healthcare, retail, government, and manufacturing organizations rely on it. It describes its approach as designed for enterprise-scale third-party ecosystems, and its supply chain material refers to global manufacturing supply chains, wholesale and retail networks, and public sector supplier portfolios.From its own pages, Thoropass sells mainly to organizations pursuing audits and certifications such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS and HIPAA. Thoropass says it serves organizations getting started on a first framework and those looking to maintain a compliance program. Companies with multiple products or environments can organize evidence and controls in the platform. Its pages address healthcare organizations that need HIPAA compliance. Organizations with unique industry or internal frameworks can manage them directly in Thoropass.
Last verified
November 2, 2026November 2, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Black Kite and Thoropass are both filed under Third-party risk and security ratings.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Black Kite's primary category is Third-party risk and security ratings; Thoropass's is Compliance automation.
  • Black Kite is also filed under Cyber risk quantification.
  • Black Kite lists Cyber Risk Quantification, Ransomware Threat Intelligence, Vendor Risk Monitoring, Black Kite Extend, Vendor Risk Assessment and 1 more. Thoropass lists Audit Lifecycle Platform, First Pass, Smart Sort, Thoropass MCP Server, Thoropass Risk Register and 1 more.
  • Black Kite is headquartered in Boston, United States. Thoropass is headquartered in New York, United States.
  • Black Kite was founded in 2016. Thoropass was founded in 2019.

What it sells: Black Kite

What Cyber Risk Quantification does[1][4][10]
Black Kite's Cyber Risk Quantification translates technical cyber risk into financial terms. Black Kite automatically estimates probable financial impact across ransomware, data breach, and business interruption scenarios. CRQ uses standards-based frameworks like Open FAIR to calculate financial impact.
What Ransomware Threat Intelligence does[4][12]
Black Kite connects ransomware threat intelligence to a third-party risk program through the Ransomware Susceptibility Index. FocusTags are automatically applied to affected vendors when a major breach, ransomware attack, or active exploitation of a vulnerability occurs. Black Kite continuously tracks what ransomware operators and threat actors are discussing, planning, and claiming across leak sites, Telegram channels, and dark web forums.
What Vendor Risk Monitoring does[4][8]
Black Kite delivers continuous vendor risk monitoring that keeps pace with a customer's business and the complexity of its supply chain. Black Kite Intelligence tracks ransomware campaigns, credential leaks, active exploitation, and high-impact zero-days.
What Black Kite Extend does[4][8][9]
Black Kite Extend identifies fourth- and fifth-party relationships through automated supply chain mapping. Black Kite Extend covers Nth-party mapping, geopolitical monitoring, threat actor tracking, and product-level risk analysis in one package.
What Vendor Risk Assessment does[4][13]
Black Kite delivers AI-powered vendor risk assessments that provide security insights in hours, not weeks. AI-powered document parsing analyzes vendor security policies, SOC 2 reports, and trust center artifacts in minutes, not weeks. The Black Kite Bridge replaces email sprawl with centralized vendor collaboration.
What Vendor Compliance Management does[15]
Black Kite simplifies vendor compliance management with continuous cyber risk monitoring, automated framework assessments, and centralized reporting that demonstrates ongoing oversight to regulators and auditors. Black Kite integrates with existing GRC platforms, including ServiceNow and LogicGate.

What it sells: Thoropass

What Audit Lifecycle Platform does[4][6][11][17][18]
The Thoropass Audit Lifecycle Platform combines AI-powered workflow automation, evidence collection, control management and auditor collaboration in one place. The platform is designed to replace fragmented tools like spreadsheets and email chains.
What First Pass does[11]
First Pass checks evidence for common issues such as missing information, inconsistencies and timing problems before it reaches the auditor. It is meant to help teams reduce rework and improve audit readiness.
What Smart Sort does[11][12][17]
Smart Sort analyzes incoming evidence from external systems and maps it to the appropriate audit requirement. It is currently available for customers pursuing SOC 2 Type I or Type II audit cycles.
What Thoropass Risk Register does[5][16]
With the Thoropass Risk Register, customers review and mitigate risk in the same platform they use for compliance readiness and the audit process. The risk dashboard can be set up in a flexible 4×4 or 5×5 risk configuration. Risks are linked back to relevant controls.
What Thoropass Trust Center does[14]
The Thoropass Trust Center is available to all customers as a public-facing portal that shows a customer's compliance posture. Customers control visibility with NDA gating and access requests.

Questions about Black Kite and Thoropass

What do Black Kite and Thoropass sell?
Black Kite sells Cyber Risk Quantification, Ransomware Threat Intelligence, Vendor Risk Monitoring, Black Kite Extend, Vendor Risk Assessment and 1 more. Thoropass sells Audit Lifecycle Platform, First Pass, Smart Sort, Thoropass MCP Server, Thoropass Risk Register and 1 more.
Are Black Kite and Thoropass in the same category?
They share Third-party risk and security ratings. Black Kite's primary category is Third-party risk and security ratings and Thoropass's is Compliance automation.
Where are Black Kite and Thoropass headquartered?
Black Kite is headquartered in Boston, United States. Thoropass is headquartered in New York, United States.
When were Black Kite and Thoropass founded?
Black Kite was founded in 2016. Thoropass was founded in 2019.
Who are Black Kite and Thoropass sold to?
From its own pages, Black Kite sells mainly to organizations running third-party and supply chain cyber risk programs. From its own pages, Thoropass sells mainly to organizations pursuing audits and certifications such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS and HIPAA.
What have Black Kite and Thoropass announced recently?
November 2, 2026: Black Kite announced a new integration with CrowdStrike that delivers third-party vendor risk intelligence into CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM. July 9, 2026: Thoropass launched an MCP server that lets customers connect their organizations' AI agents with its Audit Lifecycle Platform.

About Black Kite

Black Kite sells an AI-native third-party cyber risk management platform. Black Kite continuously monitors millions of organizations worldwide, giving customers visibility across their entire vendor ecosystem, extending to nth parties. Black Kite helps organizations uncover risks that would otherwise remain hidden across their extended supply chain.[1]

Black Kite describes third party risk management as a way to understand, govern, and act on risk introduced by vendors and suppliers. Black Kite says most third party risk programs were built around questionnaires, annual reviews, and blackbox scores that nobody can fully explain. Annual questionnaires and periodic reviews become outdated quickly and fail to reflect how risk changes between assessments. Risk, security, procurement, and compliance often operate in parallel rather than together. Black Kite helps organizations move beyond point-in-time scores and annual reviews toward ongoing risk visibility and collaborative remediation.[6]

Black Kite gives always-on visibility into vendor risk, with intelligence on adversary targeting, ransomware susceptibility, active cyber events, and financial exposure. Black Kite's AI parses vendor documents, extracts relevant evidence, and maps controls across frameworks. Black Kite identifies vendors impacted by critical vulnerabilities, breaches, and other active exposures. Black Kite says autonomous monitoring and predictive intelligence reveal risks as they emerge, and that vendors can then be engaged through The Bridge to close the loop on risk remediation.[1][7]

Black Kite Extend identifies fourth- and fifth-party relationships through automated supply chain mapping. Black Kite Extend covers Nth-party mapping, geopolitical monitoring, threat actor tracking, and product-level risk analysis in one package. Black Kite Extend gives teams the depth of visibility that modern SCRM requires.[8][9]

Black Kite applies Open FAIR to vendor and supply chain risk scenarios, translating a vendor's cyber posture into dollar-denominated exposure. Black Kite's Cyber Risk Quantification translates technical cyber risk into financial terms. Black Kite automatically estimates probable financial impact across ransomware, data breach, and business interruption scenarios. Black Kite's Ransomware Susceptibility Index predicts the likelihood of a vendor being hit by ransomware before an attack occurs. When a major breach, ransomware attack, or active exploitation of a vulnerability occurs, Black Kite FocusTags are automatically applied to affected vendors in a customer's portfolio.[1][6][7][10][11][12]

Black Kite delivers AI-powered vendor risk assessments that provide security insights in hours, not weeks. AI-powered document parsing analyzes vendor security policies, SOC 2 reports, and trust center artifacts in minutes, not weeks. The Black Kite Bridge replaces email sprawl with centralized vendor collaboration. Black Kite delivers continuous vendor risk monitoring that keeps pace with a customer's business and the complexity of its supply chain. Black Kite Intelligence tracks ransomware campaigns, credential leaks, active exploitation, and high-impact zero-days. For vendor risk response, Black Kite delivers cyber risk intelligence and collaboration tools that turn vendor risk findings into resolved issues. Black Kite simplifies vendor compliance management with continuous cyber risk monitoring, automated framework assessments, and centralized reporting that demonstrates ongoing oversight to regulators and auditors. Black Kite integrates with existing GRC platforms, including ServiceNow and LogicGate.[8][13][14][15]

Black Kite maps the cyber risk posture of entire supplier ecosystems, including the Nth-party relationships many organizations lack visibility into. According to Black Kite's research, every supplier breach now claims an average of 5.28 downstream victim organizations. Black Kite says AI has been foundational to its platform since day one, transforming billions of external risk signals into actionable intelligence. Black Kite's AI analyzes data from thousands of sources, including OSINT, dark web and hacker forums, and vulnerability data. Black Kite lets customers connect their own AI agents and orchestration toolchains to its platform and data. Black Kite has an open API and native integrations. Black Kite's open-standards methodology produces findings that are traceable and documented, supporting the requirements of DORA, SEC cyber disclosure rules, and the audit frameworks enterprise risk programs operate under.[6][7][9]

Black Kite names GRC managers, CISOs, third-party risk teams and security operations teams as groups its approach serves. Black Kite says its platform is relied on across finance, healthcare, retail, government, and manufacturing. Organizations across financial services, healthcare, and technology rely on Black Kite's continuous monitoring. BK Labs is Black Kite's research and innovation organization. BK Labs analyzes ransomware, threat actors, and supply chain risk across more than 40 million organizations. BK Labs is led by Candan Bolukbas, Black Kite CTO and co-founder, and Dr Ferhat Dikbiyik, Chief Research and Intelligence Officer.[6][7][8][9][12][16]

Black Kite on the record

Sources

Black Kite full record

  1. [1]blackkite.comBlack Kite · blackkite.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Cyber risk ratings leader normshield rebrands to black kite 301205147Black Kite via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published January 11, 2021 · Tier A
  3. [3]About Black Kite | TPCRM PioneersBlack Kite · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Black Kite | Standards-Based Third-Party Cyber Risk ManagementBlack Kite · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Black Kite Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  6. [6]Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) Solutions | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Cyber Risk Management Platform | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Vendor Risk Monitoring Solutions | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Supply Chain Cyber Risk Management | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ) Solutions | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Financial Impact of Cyber Risk | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Ransomware Threat Intelligence for Your Vendors | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]How to Evaluate Vendors and Reduce Cyber Risk | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Vendor Risk Response & Remediation | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Vendor Compliance Management | Black KiteBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]BK Labs is Black Kite's research and innovation organizationBlack Kite · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Black Kite Announces New Integration with CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEMBlack Kite · published November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Black Kite Introduces Quantum Readiness for Third-Party Cyber Risk ManagementBlack Kite · published October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Black Kite’s Manufacturing & Distribution Ransomware Report 2026 Confirms Manufacturing Remains #1 TargetBlack Kite · published September 17, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Black Kite Research Reveals That Ransomware's Primary Target Is the Mid-Market, Not Enterprises as Widely AssumedBlack Kite · published August 18, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]Black Kite Appoints Data Protection Veteran Jim Clancy as Strategic AdvisorBlack Kite · published July 28, 2026 · Tier A

Thoropass full record

  1. [1]Readiness and audit in one compliance automation platform - ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Thoropass ceo sam li honored by goldman sachs for entrepreneurship excellenceThoropass · thoropass.com · published October 17, 2024 · Tier A
  3. [3]6001423004Thoropass · job-boards.greenhouse.io · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]AI-powered, expert-led | ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]The only all-in-one solution for infosec compliance and audits - ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Audit Lifecycle Platform | ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Augment your experience with service partners - ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Save time and money with AWS and Thoropass - ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Integrations that streamline your compliance journey - ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Thoropass Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier C
  11. [11]AI-Native IT Audits | Thoropass Audit Lifecycle PlatformThoropass · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Smart Sort AI: Automated Evidence Mapping | ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Thoropass leading the charge on AI-powered technology - ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Product Updates - ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Thoropass vs. Traditional Audit Firms: A Smarter Way to Compliance | ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Efficiently track, analyze, and mitigate risk in one, central platform - ThoropassThoropass · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Thoropass Launches Smart Sort AI to Turn Any GRC Export Into Audit-Ready EvidenceThoropass · published January 29, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Thoropass Launches MCP Server to Further Streamline AI-native Audit CapabilitiesThoropass · published July 9, 2026 · Tier A

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