Cyber Security Risk Analysis and Assessment

Risk analysis is a process of reviewing risks that come with a particular asset or event. It is a crucial security process for any type of company. The risk analysis includes identifying the assets most vulnerable to cyberattack.

This may include equipment, customer data, intellectual property, etc. It follows risk estimation and evaluation and then takes measures to control the risk. The idea is to monitor the process continuously and detect any suspicion right on time.

The cyber risk analysis is for every company. The size and the industry doesn’t matter here. Any company operating with technology and consumers needs to perform this analysis. PSUs can majorly benefit from it by greater vigilance and methods of protection.

The cyber risk assessment should be carried out by in-house teams with trained professionals. The IT staff and executives should be in this team to understand digital and network infrastructure and proprietary organizational knowledge. The main element here is to maintain organizational transparency. For smaller companies, relying on cybersecurity software is the most economic option.

Types of Cyber Security Risk Analysis

1. Qualitative Risk Analysis

This method of analyzing follows the probability and impact number. The chances of risk happening refers to probability while the significance of the risk refers to impact. It identifies the risk individually and then ranks them according to priority. This allows them to understand the probability of each risk and then filter them accordingly to determine risk exposure.

2. Quantitative Risk Analysis

This type of risk analysis follows numerical estimates of risk’s effect on project objectives. It is mainly useful for estimating contingency reserve and identify time and cost. It is not compulsory in smaller projects but is efficient for identifying overall project risk.

Uses of Cyber Security Risk Assessment

1. To avoid adverse outcomes and anticipate them for minimum effect

2. To keep a plan ready for the resources which might be comprised

3. To recognize potential risk in a project

4. Identify the possibility and make amends for it

Benefits of Risk Analysis in Cyber Security

1. Reduction in Costs

Spending money on regular assessments to identify risk and vulnerabilities is cheaper than paying ransoms later. This can help organizations save money and have secure management in the long term.

2. Provides Assessment Framework

The analysis is not a uniform process and must update with time. But having a template in place even once can help organizations find an efficient structure for the future as well.

3. Increases Organizational Knowledge

The regular assessment allows companies to understand where they lack as an entity. It can help them understand the organization better and improve it accordingly.

4. Avoid data breaches and Loss

All companies deal with some or the other data which is essential for them to function. And having regular assessments can ensure the security of this data and not hinder its functionality.

5. Avoid regulatory issues

The regulations by the government keep changing and companies must comply with them. Following them on regular basis can make the security assessments more strong and reliable.

6. Avoid Application Glitches

The employees and the consumers access the organization’s application on regular basis. Having regular updates can ensure that they are able to use it faster and easily without any interference.

Steps in the risk analysis process

1. Determine information value

The account planning for every company is done at the start of the financial year. And a limited budget is put for information risk management as well. This becomes a limitation as now the company has to prioritize business-critical assets. This helps them save money and have a more well-planned analysis.

A few things to consider while making this list –

• Financial or legal penalties of information
• Value of information to a competitor
• Information recreation and time to do so
• Value of information in revenue or profitability
• Impact of information on business operations
• Reputational damage associated
• IT security policies
• IT security architecture
• Network topology
• Information storage protection
• Information flow
• Technical security controls
• Physical security controls
• Environmental security

2. Identify cyber threats

The assessments are to identify the vulnerabilities of an organization. And looking at potential risks and previous breaches can allow experts to identify future situations as well. And now, threats are not just limited to hackers, malware, but much more than that. They are –

a. Natural disasters

These situations are something the management can look at according to geographic location and climate.

b. System failure

Sometimes the most important information is available on low-quality equipment which can lead to its corruption.

c. Human error

Lack of employee training can lead to frequent human eros and thus loos of data. This can also happen due to a lack of attention and management.

d. Adversarial threats

there are insiders, ethical hackers, suppliers, and sometimes even clients who can leak important information.

Some examples of cyber risks are –

• Ransomware
• Data leaks
• Phishing
• Malware
• Insider threats
• Cyberattacks

Some common threats that affect every organization include:

• Using different malware for unauthorized access
• Using information for personal gain by authorized users
• Leaking data for unethical reasons
• Losing data by some human error

3. Identify vulnerabilities

After knowing what kind of threats you might face, you identify the weakness that a threat can exploit. If the data suggests a high number of human errors in history, you make your training more strong. If there are chances of software-based vulnerabilities then go for proper patch management.

4. Analyze Controls

Having proper control can reduce the chances of a threat or vulnerability. This is possible by using encryption, detection mechanisms, authentication, automatic updates, etc. Other non-technical ways are following security policies and physical mechanisms.

Controls are either preventative or detective. Preventative controls are for stopping the attack by taking precautions. While detectives are to identify the threats by continuous security monitoring.

5. Calculate the Impact

After knowing what is at risk, the next step is to find out what will be the impact. If you are presuming a natural disaster, then you know that your physical equipment is at risk. This can help you identify the budget you will need to overcome the situation.

6. Prioritize Risks based on cost and value

Follow the data collected from information value and use risk level to mitigate the risk. If the risk is high, come up with measures as soon as possible. If the risk is medium then take a reasonable period of time. And in case of low risk, take a call to accept or mitigate.

Always remember that cost of controlling the threats should be less than the cost of assets at risk. But this being said, consider other things like –

• Organizational policies
• Reputational damage
• Feasibility
• Regulations
• Effectiveness of controls
• Safety
• Reliability
• Organizational attitude
• Tolerance for uncertainty

7. Make Assessment Reports

The last and the most important step is to make a collective assessment report. This report becomes the basis for the team to take action and make decisions. The ending is usually the control recommendations that companies can refer to. This entire process helps to understand the company better and the scope of improvement.

ISO 27001 and cyber risks

As we saw some of the important standards in previous articles, we are aware that ISO 27001 is an important standard to follow. It has guidelines for information security management systems, addressing people, processes, and technology.

Clause 6.1.2 of the standard says the following about the information security risk assessment process –

1. Organizations need to maintain information security risk criteria.

2. It is mandatory to have repeated risk assessments that are valid and comparable

3. Companies should the risk that comes with the loss of information

4. They should identify the owners of those risks

5. They must analyze and evaluate risks according to the criteria

6. They need to maintain documented information about the assessment process

7. And lastly, they must follow relevant steps for information security risk treatment process

Conclusion

The risk analysis will ensure the long-term growth of any company. It can assure smooth functioning of business and a more secure work environment. Following these simple steps can ensure the safety of any company from multiple cyber threats. Companies need to take it seriously and implement such a process at right time.

The benefits of doing so are clear and can bring positive responses to the company. Make sure that be it any organization, having an analysis plan should be the priority.