Why Do Companies Conduct Cybersecurity Risk Assessments?

Routine cybersecurity risk assessments minimize your susceptibility to cyberattacks. They combine data gathered from past and present reports to address projected vulnerabilities before they even transpire. Update your cybersecurity system regularly. Leave no room for modern cybercriminals to infiltrate your database and compromise sensitive company information.

4 Reasons To Perform Routine Cybersecurity Risk Assessments

Some of the reasons why every company should execute regular enterprise-level cybersecurity risk assessments include:

Company-Wide Digital Hygiene Education

Employees have poor digital hygiene. They use the same passwords for multiple sites, access sensitive company assets on personal devices, and connect company-provided gadgets to unsecured networks. All these poor habits combined put your overall cybersecurity system at risk. 

Apart from identifying system weaknesses, incorporate employee education into your risk assessment programs. Teach your team about digital hygiene. Explain the importance of data privacy, elaborate on the consequences of carelessly accessing company data, and share straightforward tips to prevent data breaches.

Stringent Data Privacy and Regulation

File management plays a crucial role in cybersecurity. C-level executives and IT administrators should have total control over every file in their database. Avoid unauthorized data access as much as you can.

Log user activity as part of your routine risk assessments to guarantee total control over your company assets. Record every user that accesses your database. Whether the logged user is a high-ranking manager or entry-level associate, track their activity.

Understanding Past System Vulnerabilities

System inconsistencies do not go away on their own. Unless you address the causes behind past cyberattacks, your database will remain vulnerable. Review historical analytics, pinpoint the primary cause behind the breach, resolve the issue promptly, and ensure that similar problems never occur again.

Otherwise, you might fall victim to the same criminals multiple times. Hackers will likely target you again if they already know the vulnerabilities in your cybersecurity system.

Drafting Feasible, Actionable Cybersecurity Measures

Productive cybersecurity risk assessments end with solutions. Identifying system vulnerabilities is one thing, but resolving them is another. Strive for feasible, goal-oriented cybersecurity solutions to resolve the specific complications that arose from your assessments.

Also, run your action plan through your CFO. Cybersecurity measures are a worthy business investment, but the execution costs shouldn’t prohibit your company from performing daily tasks.

Overall, cybersecurity risk assessments prevent cyberattacks. Perform intensive pen testing to expose system insecurities, address them promptly, and educate your employees on working together to improve data privacy. Cybersecurity requires teamwork.

Also, if you don’t have an in-house IT department yet, consider outsourcing your risk assessments to cybersecurity professionals. Do not skimp on your cybersecurity system. Routine testing sets you back by a few grand per annum, but a single data breach could cost you at least $5 million. Some companies never even financially recover from cyberattacks.

Are you unsure if your company has enough funds for cybersecurity? Security Forward can help with the math! Use our brief piece explaining the average cost of enterprise-level cybersecurity systems as a starting point.