Contact us anytime to know more — Abhishek P., Founder & CFO CISIN
Our world is experiencing unprecedented events. These include health crises, natural disasters, and volatile diplomatic relations.
Businesses have paid a high price to protect their assets from cyber-attacks. Lack of preparation can lead to large losses. These could be avoided with a carefully planned framework for risk management.
There are many turnkey security solutions available, but they may not be reliable or robust. This is because there's no one-size-fits-all solution for securing assets.
When the investment in managing risk does not yield the desired results, it can lead to disillusionment and technical debt. The executives lose confidence in these measures and the scores for security solutions, which otherwise appear lucrative godown.
An effective risk management plan will help to identify the specific needs of your company and provide solutions that maximize the return on investment.
It will serve as a stepping-stone to building a cyber safety program in your interest.
This article will introduce you to cyber risk management. You will be guided through all the necessary steps for creating a successful and comprehensive cybersecurity risk plan.
You will then be able to create your risk management strategy for your company after you have read the different stages involved in preparing a plan.
We'll start by discussing cyber risk management.
What is Risk Management in Cyber Security?
Cyber risk management is the process of identifying, analyzing, and mitigating incidents that could compromise your digital assets and cause a disastrous impact on your company.
This is an ongoing process that must adapt to changing requirements and landscapes that are rapidly evolving with global business practices.
Risk management is a core principle in any successful cybersecurity strategy. Risk management is a core principle of any effective cybersecurity strategy.
The FISMA's Risk Management Framework (RMF) is used by government agencies to certify the operational security of their systems.
What is the Role of Risk Management?
The Chief Information Security Office (CISO), also known as the CIO, is a key player in managing the cyber risk of an organization.
The CISO, who is at the helm in addressing cyber security issues for the organization and liaising with upper management and IT teams to ensure information security, has the major responsibility of:
- Obtaining the support of upper management regarding measures to take when encountering security weaknesses.
- Allocating budgets and funds to priorities that are outlined with the Executive Board.
Risk Management and Security
Cyber attacks are on the rise due to the rapid changes in the technological landscape and because of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Organizations have faced multiple challenges, including a large number of employees working remotely and supply chain disruption due to misaligned processes or incongruent processes. A recent survey by the World Economic Forum Centre for Cyber Security revealed that the three top cyber threats for leaders to be concerned with are:
- Cyber attacks can cause infrastructure failures
- Identity Threat
- Ransomware
According to 81% of respondents, it is getting harder for people to stay ahead of cybercriminals. A robust Security Risk Management Plan that includes the following elements is needed to address this growing need.
How To Identify and Manage Blind Spots
By accurately identifying your current assets and mapping them toward the ideal or desired state, you can identify weaknesses in your defenses.
You can uncover several knots when you present all factors to you in advance. You can close the gaps with a risk management plan.
Recognize Emerging Threats
To keep pace with the ever-changing threat landscape, a mature program of risk management should be regularly updated.
To minimize damages, organizations should take preventative measures. Implementing a risk management strategy can help you control damage caused by an attack.
Manage Cyber Threats and Identify Them
Cyber security threats are evolving. Be aware and alert. Educate your employees on the importance of these threats.
You can mitigate the threat if you accurately identify it.
Create and Implement an Incident Response protocol
An incident response plan that is well-structured helps to identify the threats and put the team into action to reduce risk.
The incident responders are given enough time to react, which minimizes the impact on the company's reputation and finances.
Streamline IT Systems
You will avoid unpleasant surprises when it comes to security breaches. It can also help with the definition of an incident response system and the prioritization for response.
Ensure Data Safety and Regulatory Compliance
Your reputation as an ethical business is built on your ability to demonstrate your dedication to the security of your customer's data.
Risk Management Frameworks To Consider
A framework that is based on guidelines and best practices can help us to narrow our focus and improve the way we recognize and respond to threats.
It also minimizes any negative impact on an outcome. A cyber risk management plan must include a framework that can be seamlessly integrated into an existing security management system.
A well-structured framework can help organizations reduce response times and speed up the resolution process for security breaches.
Frameworks can be voluntary, but they are meant to act as guidelines, taking into account people, processes, and technology.
You can select from a variety of frameworks for risk management, depending on your needs.
ISO 27000
ISO 27001 is an international standard that helps to secure information assets in an organization as well as ensure confidentiality and integrity for consumer data.
The framework promotes 114 control measures. ISO 27001 is a certification that helps companies gain consumer trust since it demonstrates their commitment to protecting customer information.
If your business has more than 200 employees, it could take 18 months for the company to achieve certification.
NIST CSF
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Cyber Security Framework is a seven-step process that guides an organization in achieving information security goals.
The five main elements are:
- Identification
- Protect yourself from harm
- Find out more about Detect
- Response
- Recover
Any organization that is responsible for providing products or services related to critical infrastructure, global supply chain, and other important areas should strive for NIST CSF Certification.
Implementing this framework could take anywhere from weeks to several years.
DOD RMF
The Department of Defense RMF (DoD RMF) was developed by the US Department of Defense to improve the cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure.
This framework authorizes Information Systems, Platform Information Technology Services, and uses security controls.
Private institutions that do business with government entities must also adhere to the principles outlined in this framework.
FAIR
FAIR (Factor Analysis of Information Risk) allows organizations to calculate security risk in terms of their financial liabilities.
This framework is governed by the length of an event that has a financial impact and its duration.
The model allows CISOs, based on statistics, to calculate the impact of a security risk on a financial basis. The FAIR Framework can be combined with other frameworks, such as the NIST CSF framework, to provide comprehensive coverage of cyber security.
PCI-DSS
Payment Card Industry, Data Security Standard, is an international security standard that was created to guarantee the safe transfer of card information.
This standard is required for all organizations that process or store payment data or send it to customers.
CIS Controls
Center for Information Security Controls (CIS) is a set of best practices and standards that have been prioritized to mitigate widespread cyber-attacks against networks and systems.
The US Government, in collaboration with a group of security experts and researchers, put these controls into place.
CIS Controls is a collection of defenses curated and based upon the real-life experience of IT professionals in cyber security.
What Risk Management Framework is Right for My Organization?
The guidelines of risk management frameworks can be tailored to meet the specific security requirements of your company.
These frameworks are designed for specific needs based on your IT system tolerance, the environment you operate in, priority, categories of risk, and response strategies.
Keep these aspects in mind when you decide to select a framework:
- Examine the current risk management process: Assess the effectiveness of these processes. Is it in the formative phase? What is the level of maturity? Can it be repeated? What is its performance compared to other competitors? This introspection will help you determine which framework aligns with your existing processes. Understanding how frameworks define the goals and controls to be implemented is important.
- Understand the technological landscape where your assets are located: Examine the compliance requirements for your organization. Choose the framework which best meets your compliance and regulatory needs.
- Make an inventory of your technology assets: This insight allows you to look at specific guidelines around the assets within any future framework.
How Cyber Infrastructure Inc. Helps To Secure Your Organization
We offer vulnerability management and penetration testing to help you secure the most critical assets of your business.
Read More: Enhancing Mid-Market Organizations Cyber Security Strategies
What is a Cyber Security Risk Management Program?
Step 1: Evaluate Cybersecurity Risks
Begin by Completing a Risk Assessment
Choose the most appropriate approach based on your organization's needs and goals. This can either be qualitative, quantitative, or both.
Quantitative approaches give you an insight into financial impacts, and quantitative methods provide visibility of the impact on productivity. Risk assessment can take place at either the strategic or tactical levels, as per the NIST Special Publication 80030.
To assess security risks, the first step is to make an inventory of assets. Then you can arrange them according to their priority and importance as well as the type of information.
All stakeholders should be involved in the process and agree on how information assets will be classified.
Step 2: Prioritize Cyber Risks
Determine Which Data Can Be Accessed And By Whom, As Well As The Methods Of Breaching
Data loopholes are everywhere. With an ever-growing IT landscape and organizations adopting different technologies, and new ways of doing business (such as shared infrastructure or third-party services on top of existing software), data can be exposed in unexpected places.
A multitude of regulatory policies and compliance practices, along with the changing landscape, reinforces the need to identify every security breach or incident that could occur in infrastructure.
After you have classified and identified your information assets, it is time to identify potential threats channels.
It is important to stay up to date on triggers and controls as we navigate the ever-changing threat landscape. We must also evolve to create new strategies that will counteract these threats and meet the needs of the future.
Data security incidents can be caused by external attacks, malicious software, users, negligence, or natural disasters.
In addition to revenue losses, security breaches can also lead to reputational damage and legal issues, as well as interruptions in business continuity.
Identification of vulnerabilities is done through scanning, auditing, penetration tests, etc. The network and application are vulnerable areas that can be overlooked due to a lack of attention and the inability to detect flaws.
As more and more businesses host and run their applications in the cloud, there is a high chance of these weak points being introduced.
These vulnerabilities can be targeted by external, internal, and structured threats.
Step 3: Determine Cyber Security Risk Mitigation and Prevention Strategies
After you have assessed your information assets and identified the potential threats that are associated with them, you need to develop mechanisms to avoid the dangers you may encounter.
Deploy Security Monitoring Tools
Install all the necessary security and infrastructure solutions to automate your surveillance. It is important to manage your network security.
Consider yourself an attacker and identify how your IT assets and infrastructure can be targeted. Use the weaknesses in your environment as a way to identify vulnerabilities and then devise a strategy for continuous security monitoring.
Use SIEM tools with User Entity and Behavior Analytics capabilities to keep track of the evolving threat landscapes and secure your company through regulatory compliance and report-writing competence.
Build a cyber-security mesh that focuses on the nodes and devices in your network.
Install A Patching Programme
Implement a patch management system to keep all software updated and implement patches when available. Patches are designed to close any gaps in applications that could be used by attackers as a launching pad.
Automate the updating process and enforce compliance. Updates should be prioritized based on risk factors and tested on testing systems before implementation to avoid unwarranted risks.
Implement a Data Backup Solution
The data is the greatest asset of an organization. Data should be handled with the utmost attention and care. Be sure to have a strategy that is proven to back up important data in a safe environment.
This should also allow you to roll back the changes if there are any system or corruption issues. Automate your backup and encrypt all data. Use a 3-2-1 strategy to back up mission-critical data. Create three copies using two different types of storage and one offsite.
Consider Staff Augmentation
Outsourcing your security to an IT services company that is trusted will allow you to manage and secure your systems.
While you do this, ensure that the provider adheres to security policies and is compliant with system data. It is essential to take enhanced security measures due to the increased decentralization and mobility, as well as the proliferation of networks.
Integrate Security Based Technology
Cloud-based businesses are moving towards Firewalls as a Service. This cloud service offers a firewall as a cloud-based service, giving you the flexibility to move security enforcement either fully or partially to the cloud.
SD-WAN is another way to connect cloud service providers in different locations into one global firewall. You only have to be concerned about the security of a single entity.
Implement A Security Awareness Program
Data can be compromised even if all of these steps are taken. This is because employees need to become more aware of cyber-security.
In 2023, human error will continue to be the leading cause of data breaches. Inculcate an awareness of security and make employees responsible for any non-compliance.
Employees can avoid simple tactics like social engineering, phishing, and authentication breaches if they are aware of the symptoms, take action and notify incidents via security compliance channels.
Cyber Risk Management - Final Checks
This article has reviewed the steps involved in creating a plan to mitigate cyber risk. Consider the following when developing a plan to manage risk for your company:
Prepare For And React To An Attack
To respond to an incident, a good risk plan will include the steps necessary to define each party's role and responsibility.
Document a clear standard operating procedure detailing the hierarchy of reporting. Could you share it with all stakeholders?
Security teams, for example, should notify the CISO of a security breach. Legal teams may need to be informed if external communication is required, depending on the severity.
Internal teams will be notified if the incident is contained in the company. Document what constitutes a security incident and its criticality level:
- What is a breach of data?
- What is a symbiotic relationship?
- What signs should you be on the lookout for? How can you respond to them?
Define the methods for identifying, investigating, and remediating security threats. Modern cyber-attacks require a concerted effort due to the complexity of IT systems and the advancements made in hacking.
Ongoing Security Risk Assessments
We can use security risk assessments to assess our preparedness in the event of a real threat. A risk management plan must include a plan for ongoing risk assessments.
Decide when, how, and why you will perform the assessment. Create a cycle that includes assessment, correction, and reassessment. Define a schedule for risk assessments based on the objective of the assessment.
This could happen when there's a shift in working models, a new purchase, or a compliance requirement. Conduct assessments on the remediation and workarounds performed for any security incidents.
Consider the various options for conducting a security risk assessment.
Define your objectives and scope of the risk assessment and what you will do if the results are positive. Look for unusual findings and share the findings with key stakeholders.
Talk to your peers about the latest trends and threats and plan for simulations of security incidents.
It Is Important To Review Policies And Controls Regularly
Map the current practices in the company with the guidelines of the information security policy. You may need to review and audit the policy to take into account new factors or to discard old rules due to process changes.
A cyber audit can also help you to identify the areas where your policies need more strict enforcement. Make sure policies are updated and in line with current security frameworks and trends.
As threats evolve, cloud computing adoption increases, and regulatory compliance is enforced in certain regions, businesses are more compelled than ever to update and review their security policies.
Regular and systematic reviews will allow you to evaluate the security preparedness and posture of your business.
Review the schedules for policy reviews and make any necessary changes. As cyber security changes more rapidly, pay special attention to encryption and account policy.
Conclusion
Risk management programs can be used to manage risks in all areas of the business, including compliance, knowledge management, and strategic and financial risk.
It can be implemented at the departmental, functional, or project levels.
