As every business owner knows, risk assessments play a fundamental role in reducing a company’s chances of experiencing costly problems such as reputational damage, loss of essential assets, impediments to service delivery, violation of international or national laws, or even injury to staff members.
Most people associate the term’ risk assessment’ with occupational hazard evaluations, whereby human resources teams assess the risks that specific tasks present to a company’s workers. However, many other issues affect modern, digital-oriented companies that warrant risk management, the most vital of which is IT systems’ vulnerability.
What is a cyber risk assessment?
A cybersecurity risk assessment involves evaluating the extent to which a company is at risk of security breaches, loss of data and, of course, financial damages caused by cyber-attacks. The purpose of such an assessment is to inform IT managers and senior business professionals of potential areas for improvement regarding their company’s cybersecurity measures.
Areas of concern for risk assessors include:
- Whether cybersecurity software or systems are up to date
- The kind of data breaches that could occur
- The level of risk that decision-makers are willing to accept
- The potential consequences of infiltration by cybercriminals
- How the business is adapting to new and evolving security threats
What are the benefits of performing an IT risk assessment?
Performing a risk assessment is fundamental to the success of any growing business, offering the following benefits:
Improved knowledge of vulnerabilities
The first step to effective cybersecurity is to figure out your company’s most significant vulnerabilities. A risk assessment will deliver the information you need to develop and invest in a bespoke and effective security system.
Avoidance of business downtime
Cyber threats can affect the functioning of critical internal and customer-facing systems, so effective security measures can help keep your business running smoothly.
Compliance with regulations
Rules and regulations surrounding the protection of customer data are becoming increasingly stringent. A security assessment can determine whether any data protection measures require updating.
Prevention against data loss
A risk assessment can help to prevent the loss of critical data assets, including passwords, customer data, trade secrets, and more.
Protection against financial losses
Data breaches have the potential to ruin thriving businesses financially. According to recent figures, companies lose almost $4 million per security breach on average. Cutting-edge security measures are one of the best ways to protect against this kind of devastating loss.
Start your risk assessment today
If your IT systems are overdue for a thorough risk assessment, the experts at F12 are ready and waiting to help. Visit https://f12.net/security-assessment/ our risk assessment tool to complete your free online risk assessment and get your immediate evaluation.