No matter what industry you work in, technology is likely becoming an increasingly prominent aspect of your business. Although this can make your life easier, it also poses many risks to your firm's security, so you must ensure you have appropriate strategies in place.
A security risk assessment is the first step to finding solutions that protect your business from unnecessary risk. Let's examine what questions should be answered during this process.
1. What Are Our Most Important Assets?
When you book your risk assessment, you will first speak to technology specialists on the phone, and then they will visit your business to find out more about its operations. The first question to ask is what your assets currently are. In the context of cybersecurity, assets are all the things that need to be protected from an online attack.
In most cases, this is the data your firm keeps. Depending on what type of business you lead, they could include designs and methods that are patented, media that you've produced, your historical transactions and interactions, customer details, and private knowledge. Data assets are what drive your business's current or future revenue and give you valuable market insights.
2. What Risks Do You See?
Once you know exactly what assets you need to protect, you can ask the specialists what the current risk factors are. Risk has three components: threat, vulnerability, and consequence. Threat refers to the types of attacks you might be able to expect, such as DDoS attacks or social engineering attacks. Most of these are either motivated by financial gain or by a political agenda.
Your vulnerability is how much exposure you have to cybersecurity attacks. There might be flaws in your current security plan that make you particularly vulnerable to certain kinds of issues. Remember that the cybersecurity landscape is complex and always changing, so your vulnerability might increase over time. Finally, the consequence is how much damage an attack would cause to your business. We want to address high-consequence events first.
3. What Strategies Do You Suggest to Mitigate the Risks?
During your risk assessment, your technology specialists will start telling you about what solutions they offer to your current vulnerabilities. There are many different strategies to fend off attacks, and they are constantly evolving as the need for security increases. Here at Edafio Technology Partners, we offer comprehensive, one-stop solutions for businesses, so you don't have to deal with multiple vendors or programs.
The most commonly used types of protection are antivirus software, a firewall, and an intrusion detection system, but these aren't always enough to keep your assets completely safe. This is because criminals are continuously developing new viruses that your software might not yet recognize, and firewalls can be misconfigured. Vulnerability Management can help to show up any new weaknesses, so you stay on top of your risks at all times.
4. What Are the Strengths of Our Current Security System?
In addition to learning more about your assets, risks, and strategies, you should ask the technology experts about your current security system and how well it is working. Some aspects of it might already be optimal, in which case they can be incorporated into your new overall strategy.
5. What Overall Solutions are Necessary?
If you find out during your assessment that your current solutions aren't adequate and you have vulnerabilities in several different areas, you might benefit from an overhaul of the entire system and a comprehensive solution that addresses all of your cybersecurity needs. In such a case, you will need to ask for the big-picture strategies that can help your business to avoid problems and attacks.
If you find out during your assessment that your current solutions aren't adequate and you have vulnerabilities in several different areas, you might benefit from an overhaul of the entire system and a comprehensive solution that addresses all of your cybersecurity needs. In such a case, you will need to ask for the big-picture strategies that can help your business to avoid problems and attacks.
6. What Other Product Might We Need?
The specialists will focus their efforts on making sure your security systems are up to scratch, but they might also discover other inefficiencies in your business. Aside from safety features, we also offer IT consulting, managed IT services, and cloud computing services, so you can benefit from a comprehensive approach that structures your business in a more efficient way.
By incorporating a range of IT solutions in your operations, you can allocate your resources to where they're most needed. Speak to our specialists about the options and how we can help you. For example, you may be able to increase your productivity with services like Micros0ft 365. This can free up your employees' time, shifting the focus from organizational tasks to more innovative ones.
7. How Often Do You Need to Come Back?
As mentioned, cybersecurity is a field that changes regularly since criminals keep developing new ways to access your assets. For this reason, a state-of-the-art security system could be completely outdated in two or three years.
For most firms, we recommend completing the risk assessment process approximately once every year so that we can monitor your firm's vulnerabilities and protection needs. However, you should ask us about the optimal frequency of your risk assessment because your individual needs might differ from those of other businesses.
Ascend Can Help
Technology can make your operations more efficient, but it poses certain risks to your data assets. A security risk assessment will help you to find out what aspects of your operations still need a better security system in place. Talk to an expert to get started and book an initial telephone call. Our technology specialists will be happy to discuss your business's needs and plan an onsite visit.
