Understanding Your Risk
Do you remember:
Three billion customer records lost when hackers hit Yahoo?
More than one trillion records lost when Aadhaar got hacked; a breach that impacted every citizen in India?
553 million records lost when Facebook got hacked?
When YOU got hacked?
Hopefully it hasn’t happened to you, but every year 1,300 major breaches occur, and these are just the ones that get reported.
So, perhaps you’re considering what a vCSO can do for you to keep this from happening. One major component of vCSO work is a risk assessment. It’s vital that you understand your organization’s vulnerabilities and its strengths when it comes to cyber-attacks. If you think you can simply assume you know what they are, think again. The consequences of not knowing your risks include:
Wasted time: Companies can be shut down for months, even years trying to recover from a cyberattack.
Wasted money: Millions of dollars are lost each year due to cyberattacks.
Lost reputation: Research shows that on average companies lose months and millions, but how do you measure the reputation you’ve spent years building and have now lost? Even if you make up the time and money, will you ever completely repair your reputation?
A risk assessment is all about analyzing your organization’s cyber situation so that you can make appropriate decisions for what protection you need and where. It identifies possible hazards and evaluates any inherent dangers in the workplace. It’s a necessary process that allows companies to implement a practical policy that manages the risks associated with the handling of information.
Not convinced? Consider the following five benefits:
Having a realistic assessment of your situation. A risk assessment identifies threats and ranks risks in a systematic way based on the potential for harm is crucial to prioritizing risk management tasks and allocating resources appropriately.
Identifying vulnerabilities. A gap-focused assessment methodology can help you identify and close vulnerabilities. In a risk assessment, your organization’s security is addressed from the perspective of a potential attacker.
Creating an inventory of data assets. Unless you know what information assets you have and how important those assets are to your organization, it’s almost impossible to make strategic decisions for IT security. With a complete, up-to-date inventory from your IT risk assessment, you can determine how to protect your most critical software and data assets.
Mitigating costs. Regular IT risk assessment can help your company eliminate unnecessary security spending. Estimating risk accurately enables you to balance costs against benefits: You can identify the most unacceptable risks and channel resources toward them, rather than toward less likely or less damaging risks.
Complying with legal requirements. Most organizations have to comply with the privacy and data security requirements of various regulations. Have a risk assessment provides confidence that you are meeting legal requirements for your industry.
So, let’s be clear. What immediate benefits do you get from hiring a vCSO and getting a risk assessment done?
Peace of mind. You know what you have at stake if a security event were to happen, and more importantly you know what proactive steps you can take to prepare.
A clear path ahead. When we perform a risk assessment, we will provide you with a clear prioritized path forward to address your security issues and concerns in non-geek speak. A path that every business owner will understand.
Information that gives you control. You get a list of areas you are doing well (so you don’t need to invest additional security efforts) and areas where there are gaps (we’ll prioritize them to help you make effective decisions).
A savings of time and money. Your assessment will help you make informed decisions, so you aren’t wasting time and money on things you don’t need.
You have everything to gain, and only one thing to lose: Your spot on a list of that starts out with “Do you remember” and ends with you being a cautionary tale.