.png)
The Value of Risk Assessments
According to the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), information security metrics are seen as an important factor in making sound decisions about various aspects of security, ranging from the design of security architectures and controls to the effectiveness and efficiency of security operations.
Executives and budget planners want quantitative justification for spending. A risk assessment provides a definitive measure of what areas need improvement and what steps need to be taken. Planning for security events begins with understanding an organization's strengths and weaknesses. Risk assessments are the most comprehensive and objective mechanism for delivering the full picture of these metrics and are designed to facilitate decision making and improve performance and accountability through collection, analysis, and reporting of relevant performance-related data. Enterprises can use risk assessments to design and build secure network architectures, develop security policies and create security contingency plans. The five most valuable benefits of risk assessments are:
With the wide variety of current and emerging security threats, companies managing their own information security often lack the in-house resources required to address all aspects of the design, implementation, and operation of a comprehensive security management program.
A successful security program demands deep insight into the current threat landscape. It also requires a strategic approach to managing the cost and complexity of the security technologies.
By augmenting existing security strategy and operations staff with a security consultancy, enterprises can take advantage of the expert skills, tools, and processes provided and significantly enhance the security of the organization without making a large investment in technology and resources.
CyberSurance is a leader in the cyber-security consulting arena and has served as a strategic partner to many top companies in the financial, healthcare, defense, transportation, communications, entertainment, and e-commerce industries. Our cybersecurity consultants have served as Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) and are certified and experienced in ethical hacking, risk management, security management, security auditing, and business consulting. CyberSurance has the expertise and experience to put your security management program on the right track – consulting services for a secure and resilient cyber-space.
1. Determine Requirements
A good Security Plan starts with sound security policies’ & procedures. A thorough risk assessment can help determine the specific policies needed, as well as how well an organization is complying with existing policies and best practices.
2. Remediate Vulnerabilities
An assessment can often eliminate the need for some safeguards and countermeasures simply by identifying existing vulnerabilities and pin pointing which areas can easily be remediated by optimizing the associated settings (i.e. software patching, shutting off unnecessary open ports or services, enforcing existing policies, and more).
3. Improve Planning
Risk management is about reducing an organization's threat exposure to an acceptable level; risk assessments provide a holistic examination of the security infrastructure – technology, people and processes. A thorough understanding of threats and their association with critical assets is essential to creating and executing contingency plans for maintaining business continuity.
4. Optimize Spending
By being proactive and identifying security weaknesses before they're exploited, you create an opportunity to significantly lower the cost of security. A risk assessment report can be used to perform an ROI (Return on Investment) calculation of existing safeguards and counter-measures, and ultimately provide valuable insight for the selection process for the next generation of security controls.
5. Document Compliance
A risk assessment is a verification and validation of an organization's adherence to best practices and compliance with government and industry regulations. Documentation is becoming increasingly critical as more regulations are imposed and the potential for downstream liability increases.
Contact Us
Contact
Location
Corporate Address:
2945 Townsgate Road
Suite 200
Westlake Village, CA 91361
Orange County Office:
65 Enterprise
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
Follow