In rudimentary terms, a cybersecurity risk assessment refers to the act of 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.”
The primary purpose of a cybersecurity risk assessment is to help key decision-makers take informed decisions to tackle prevalent and imminent risks. Ideally, an assessment must answer the following questions:
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 sit down to make key business decisions. If you’re wondering how it would benefit you, keep reading.
Making ongoing risk management an operational standard is vital, especially in today’s cyberthreat landscape where even a single threat cannot be underestimated. In one assessment, your business might seem on the right track but in the next one, certain factors would have changed exactly how business would have changed. That’s precisely why having an ongoing risk management strategy is now an integral part of standard operations for many of your peers.
Here are seven reasons why you just can’t keep this key business decision on the back burner anymore:
Most importantly, an ongoing risk management strategy will help you keep threats, both prevalent and imminent, at a safe distance from your business; especially ones you usually do not monitor regularly.
Theft or loss of business-critical data can set your business back a long way, leading to loss of business to competitors. Ongoing risk management can help you remain vigilant of any possible attempts at compromising your business data.
As a business owner or key decision-maker of your organization, you would be amazed 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.
Identifying potential vulnerabilities and mitigating them in time can help you prevent or reduce security incidents, which in turn would save your business a significant amount of money and/or potential reputational damage.
You must not assume that there should only be one fixed template for all your future cybersecurity risk assessments. However, in order to update them continuously, you need to conduct one in the first place. Hence, the first few assessments will set the right tone for future assessments as part of your ongoing risk management strategy.
Knowing security vulnerabilities across the business will help you keep a keen eye on important aspects that your business must improve on.
By ensuring that you put up a formidable defense against cyberthreats, you will automatically avoid hassles with respect to complying with regulatory standards such as HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, etc.
Monitoring and managing your digital security risks is a continuous process that must be done regularly and should be a part of your ongoing operational strategy. To implement it the right way, you need to create a risk monitoring strategy that focuses on what risks need to be identified and how to identify them.
1. Get Someone to Watch Your Back.
Are your passwords for sale on the Dark Web? Is one of your staffers selling access to your systems? Were you exposed in a third-party Dark Web data dump? Find out with our Dark Web monitoring service. We’ll dive deep into the corners of the Dark Web to look for potential risks to your organization. We watch for new Dark Web threats to your systems and data 24/7/365 to alert you to potential trouble quickly, enabling you to stop cyberattacks before they start.
Reach out to us today to perform a complete risk assessment of your digital infrastructure and help you build a resilient security posture against various threats. Request a complimentary Dark Web Scan here.
2. Get Ready to Defend Against Your Biggest Threat.
Over 90% of data breaches start with a phishing attack, and everything a cybercriminal needs to mount an effective phishing attack against you is available on the Dark Web. Prevent those attacks from landing with Security Awareness Training and Phishing Simulations. Our service offers 80 phishing kits and 50 video campaigns (including COVID-19 threats), plus 4-6 new training tools added per month in 8 languages, to ensure that your staff is ready to be your first line of defense against this Dark Web threat. Learn more here.
While we certainly wish we could say that you have plenty of time to mull over this, the unfortunate reality is you do not. If you snooze, it’s very likely that you will lose to a nefarious cybercriminal.
It’s time for you to join hands with the right partner to help you gauge every single cybersecurity risk your business is exposed to and protect your business continuously for a prolonged period of time.
Your employees are your first and primary line of defense against online crime. Equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to protect themselves – and your business – from criminal elements.
I invite you to have a 15-minute conversation. Whether or not we decide to collaborate, I’m confident I can offer insights that can help you find the right solution for your needs. Please click here to book a call with me.
NetOne Technologies is a Managed Service Provider expert in network design, disaster recovery, VoIP and IT risk management and offers assistance with all of your technology needs.
For the past 20 years, as President and Technical Director of NetOne Technologies, my team has brought companies the connectivity, security, and network infrastructure to be successful in today’s changing world.