What Is Included in a Cybersecurity Assessment?
A cybersecurity risk assessment includes a full analysis of how the protections for a company’s information and IT systems might be flawed. This risk assessment is one of the business services supporting you in learning what you don’t know, including detecting current vulnerabilities that could be exploited. But risk assessment is also a process of mapping what is possible and taking steps today to offset the worst potential outcomes. This is especially important for practices like cyber insurance assessments, which are conducted by an insurer before a company sets up a cybersecurity insurance policy. In these scenarios, the insurer doesn’t just want to know the current state of cybersecurity, but also about the best practices and plans for the future that will minimize risks long-term.
Whether you are trying to get cyber insurance to protect your business, or just want to evaluate your cybersecurity for yourself, here’s what you need to know.
Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Basics
There are many established frameworks an organization might follow to conduct a cybersecurity assessment. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) are two organizations that have created such frameworks. Even if their standards don’t regulate your industry, following them can still provide peace of mind, especially as a business scales. But there are also other frameworks! Generally, here is a cybersecurity assessment template to give you a sense of what will happen regardless of the exact framework you choose.
Risk Identification: A cybersecurity assessment is an opportunity to identify all your hardware and software, as well as the sensitive data housed with each one. You’ll also assess how much the data within each system or device is at risk, and from what threats.
Risk Profiling: As you carry out risk identification, this information informs the creation of risk profiles. If one risk keeps coming up over and over, you know this is a key place to invest resources.
Critical Assets Mapping: It’s important to understand how systems and processes connect to one another, so you can create backups and sustain operations in the event of a cyber attack.
Assets Prioritization: By the end of the assessment, the company will have prioritized which systems are most essential to protect and back up. There will also be a defined disaster recovery plan describing the process for rescue and repair after a breach.
Remediation Planning and Measurement: Backup policies, business continuity and disaster recovery planning, and penetration testing are just some of the remediation you might plan after the risk assessment. It’s important to measure the impact of these measures to confirm you’re as protected as you think.
Monitoring: Automated tools like virus scanners or other passive monitoring help keep an eye on cybersecurity in real-time, and are often implemented as part of the outcomes of the assessment.
The exact cybersecurity audit checklist you use to journey through these findings and organize your thoughts will differ based on the framework you choose.
How Do You Prepare for a Cybersecurity Assessment?
Preparing for a cybersecurity assessment requires awareness of the regulations in your industry, agreeing on your organizational risk tolerance, and creating the team that will review and inform action on the findings.
Understanding Regulations: You don’t have to know all the rules inside and out, but you should at least be aware which cybersecurity standards apply to your business. Then, find a vendor who knows more than you to help!
Risk Tolerance Awareness: It’s important to know going in that you might not be able to correct all the findings at once. You must be honest about how much risk your business is willing to remain exposed to and any key areas where high risk cannot be tolerated.
Identify Stakeholders: Internally, a team of people to oversee the assessment and review the findings should be gathered. The CIO, CISO, other senior management, and representatives from human resources and other key business lines may all be included to share their perspective on systems and changes. Even when the assessment is being conducted by an insurer to offer a policy to the business, the findings from the assessment will still be of interest to all these parties.
Check One Item Off Your Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Checklist: Finding a Trusted Consultant!
In today’s increasingly sophisticated cyber threat landscape, cybersecurity risk assessment needs to be happening regularly. Working with a partner like Moser Consulting helps companies manage their cybersecurity and qualify for cyber insurance. Whether you want a policy that protects you from outsider threats, insider threats, or both, Moser Consulting can help you improve your practices to meet policy requirements or qualify for a more competitive plan. Learn more about how we can help you!
