What’s Uncovered During a Security Risk Assessment

In business, a security risk assessment aims to provide an objective look at what can go wrong within your network, how bad it could be, and what can be done to prevent problems or mitigate outcomes.

A qualitative risk assessment is the most widely-used kind of risk analysis. It considers the following:

Threats

This is anything that threatens your network’s safety. An example might be a cyber attack from a hacker or unauthorized access to sensitive customer information.

Vulnerabilities

These are areas of your system or workflow that could allow threats to have a real impact. This might be weak passwords or out-of-date applications with security issues that need addressing.

Controls

This is the part that restores hope to businesses. It covers all the things that can be done, by the business or by its IT support team, to defend the business against attack. Such things include:

Prevention

A security risk assessment will help business owners learn what can be done to prevent an attack or to prevent a vulnerability from being otherwise exploited. A solution for protecting a vulnerable network, for example, is to install a firewall and to ensure authentication and encryption.

Corrective

In the event of an attack or other business disruption, it’s not the time for pointing the finger. It’s time to get the business back on its feet as quickly as possible to minimize the impact on customers. Restoring lost data using a backup source that is offsite is an example of a corrective measure.

Detective

Detective controls spot attacks and potential system failures quickly, often keeping them from ever happening. Preventing a disaster is much cheaper and quicker than cleaning one up.

A proactive IT team will monitor for glitches and vulnerabilities and address them quickly to prevent issues from escalating to full-scale disasters that lead to downtime and potential loss of critical data, not to mention clients and reputation.

Your Security Risk Assessment Team

Many business owners who have not performed a security risk assessment believe their company will somehow escape incident. Hope is a powerful force, but not one we recommend as the core of any business strategy.

The best way to prepare your business for whatever may come your way is to have an IT firm perform an assessment.

At AdRem Systems, our dedicated team will identify all areas of your business that could benefit from improvement and suggest custom solutions that fit your business needs. Give us a call when you’re ready to take your security to new levels.