In 2021, organizations without zero trust incurred an average breach cost of US 1.76 million more than those with a mature zero trust approach. With cyberattacks surging due to continued widespread remote work and increased online interactions, it seems likely that this trend will only continue to grow further.
Your organization’s top priority should be having advanced cybersecurity to protect against malicious actors.
Building a solid defence is hard because cybersecurity is not one big project. Your business could be safe one minute and unsafe the next. To secure your business’ data, you must keep working on it for a long time. The most important part of this is risk management.
In this blog, we will walk you through cybersecurity risk assessment. By the end of it, we hope you will realize how installing cybersecurity solutions alone isn’t enough to counter cyberattacks unless you make ongoing risk management an operational standard for your business.
Understanding cybersecurity risk assessment
In rudimentary terms, cybersecurity risk assessment refers to understanding, managing, controlling, and mitigating cybersecurity risks across your business’ infrastructure.
”In its Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) states that the purpose of cybersecurity risk assessments is to “identify, estimate and prioritize risk to organizational operations, assets, individuals, other organizations and the nation, resulting from the operation and use of information systems.” In its Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) states that the purpose of cybersecurity risk assessments is to “identify, estimate and prioritize risk to organizational operations, assets, individuals, other organizations and the nation, resulting from the operation and use of information systems.”
The primary purpose of a cybersecurity risk assessment is to help critical decision-makers tackle prevalent and imminent risks. Ideally, an assessment must answer the following questions:
- What are your business’ key IT assets?
- What type of data breach would majorly impact your business?
- What are the relevant threats to your business and its sources?
- What are the internal and external security vulnerabilities?
- What would be the impact, if any, of the exploited vulnerabilities?
- What is the probability of a vulnerability being exploited?
- How could cyberattacks or security threats impact your business’s ability to function?
The answers to these questions will help you keep track of security risks and mitigate them before disaster strikes. Now, imagine periodically having the answers to these questions whenever you make key business decisions. If you’re wondering how it would benefit you, keep reading.
Why make ongoing risk management a standard practice?
Making ongoing risk management an operational standard is vital, especially in today’s cyber threat landscape, where even a single threat we cannot underestimate. In one study, 30% of respondents say that real-time threat intelligence is critical for their cyber risk management. In one assessment, your business might seem on the right track, but you might spot vulnerabilities that can expose your business network to bad actors in the next. That’s precisely why having an ongoing risk management strategy is now an integral part of standard operations for every business.
Most organizations cannot transform data into insights for cyber risk assessment, threat modelling, scenario creation and predictive analysis. Data underutilization is a major roadblock to making ongoing risk management an operational standard for businesses.
Here are seven reasons you can’t keep this key business decision on the backburner anymore:
Reason 1. Keeping threats at bay: An ongoing risk management strategy will help you keep prevalent and imminent threats at a safe distance from your business.
Reason 2. Prevent data loss: Theft or loss of business-critical data can set your business back, and your customers might turn to competitors. Ongoing risk management can help you remain vigilant of any possible attempts at compromising your business data.
Reason 3. Enhanced operational efficiency and reduced workforce frustration: As a business owner or key decision-maker, you would be amazed at how consistently staying on top of potential cybersecurity threats can reduce the risk of unplanned downtime. The assurance that hard work will not vanish into thin air will surely keep the morale of your employees high, thereby reflecting positively on their productivity.
Reason 4. Reduction of long-term costs: Identifying and mitigating potential vulnerabilities can help you prevent or reduce security incidents, saving your business significant money or potential reputational damage.
Reason 5. One assessment will set the right tone: You must not assume that there should only be one fixed template for all your future cybersecurity risk assessments. However, to update them continuously, you need to conduct one first. Hence, the first few assessments will set the right tone for future assessments as part of your ongoing risk management strategy.
Reason 6. Improved organizational knowledge: Knowing security vulnerabilities across the business will help you monitor important aspects your business must improve.
Reason 7. Avoid regulatory compliance issues: By ensuring that you put up a formidable defence against cyber threats, you will automatically avoid hassles concerning following regulatory standards such as HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, etc.
Choose the right partner
Get the right partner to help you gauge every cybersecurity risk your business is exposed to and continuously protect your business for a prolonged period. Don’t face risks alone – let us help you build a resilient cybersecurity posture. With our expertise, you can mitigate these threats and prevent losses. Take the first step towards a secure future.
If you’re interested, please reach out to us for a no-obligation consultation at www.CyberSecurityMadeEasy.com
