10 Things to Know About Cyber Risk Management

In the modern world, being able to minimize risk is very important. By effectively handling cyber risks, you get to know the real financial exposure of your company. The number of threats is steadily growing, with a hacking attack every 39 seconds. Breaches are on the increase, and a correct management strategy is required for cybersecurity technologies. The standards and regulations are also evolving, and compliance is getting more complicated. 

Preparing for today's growing cyber threats means demonstrating your cybersecurity maturity to all stakeholders. You must answer their questions and show how your business can continue in the event of an attack. Here are ten things to know about cybersecurity risk management:

Create a Company Culture

Your company's security culture is important for planning cyber risk management in your company. It ensures that everyone has a role in mitigating the attacks and detecting them before they happen. The culture also keeps the internal systems strong and free of malware and virus infections. It encourages everyone to be security cautious and careful about what email attachments they open.

Shared Responsibility

The IT department is not the only one responsible for maintaining cybersecurity. All employees must be made aware of the risks. Human factors play a role in cybersecurity, with many data breaches being caused by phishing. Employees are responsible for being the victim of these attacks and leak information by opening suspicious attachments or links on email messages. Social engineering attacks are also targeted at them, and when they are responsible for cybersecurity, they will be keener on who they provide information to.

Employee Training

Training your staff fully about all the risks you have identified makes it easier to implement a cybersecurity plan. It encourages a security-aware culture and ensures that they all know how to use the systems and tools that you implement to keep them safe.

Information Sharing

Sharing information about cybersecurity risks across all departments and levels is important. It keeps them aware of the impact of different cyber risks and what is currently being done.

A Cybersecurity Framework

Industry standards will dictate the cybersecurity framework you create for your company. Some of the typical frameworks include:

• ISO 27001
• CIS Critical Security Controls
• NIST Framework
• PCI DS

Prioritize Cybersecurity Risks

It is not possible to protect yourself from all possible risks. By prioritizing, you will be able to prepare accordingly and defend yourself using the best strategy.

Encourage Diverse Views

The staff and the management all have different views about cybersecurity risks. However, hackers do not concern themselves about this and have a different view of your system's weak spots. Always encourage your team members to think differently and argue from varied angles to identify more risks and possible solutions.

Emphasize Speed

An immediate response is always required when a security breach takes place. Taking longer or delaying results in more damage getting done. Speedy reaction is required for a security-conscious culture. Developing the early recognition of the risks and identification of breaches and attacks ensures proper containment.

Risk Assessment

Developing a process for risk assessment is important for cybersecurity risk management. You should be able to identify all your digital assets, potential cyber threats, and the impact if any of these assets were to get damaged. Once this is done, rank the chances of each of the risks taking place.

Incident Response Plan

You must develop an incident response plan that focuses on the priority of the risks. As such, you will be able to do something whenever a threat has been detected. You will also know who should do what in the event of such incidences. Having the plan written down as part of the company policies will ensure that other teams can use the code even after you have personally left the company.

Cybersecurity risk management is often overlooked in keeping a company safe and operational. A good analysis of the cybersecurity risks in a company should be enough to show you the seriousness of modern attacks. Data breaches are on the increase, and with a good management plan, your risks will be reduced. You will be better positioned to prevent attacks before they happen by being in the hackers' minds before they take any action.