Businesses reevaluate their security strategies and perform a cybersecurity risk analysis due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic causing a rise in cybercrime.
Introduction
The biggest threat for a business these days is not physical but a virtual one. Organizations need to focus more on their cybersecurity. This year the world saw a rise in cybercrime during the lockdown due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This alarming situation is causing many businesses to reevaluate their security strategies and perform a cybersecurity risk analysis. Companies take many preventive measures to ensure the security of their data especially from leaks that happen from the inside. They keep a check on their employees through tracking equipment.
Let’s learn about what actually is risk analysis and why you need it.
What is Cybersecurity Risk Analysis?
Foremostly, cybersecurity should be an integral part of a business strategy, especially, if your business is involved in e-commerce. The cybersecurity risk analysis will help you analyze your business’s current situation. The analysis will help you identify, protect, and manage all your information data, systems, and resources. You can then determine the risks and create a suitable plan to secure and manage them.
Why do you need it?
You may think that you have a small local business and question why would anyone target you. Well, know that according to a Verizon Data Breach Investigations report, 61% of the victims of cybercrime in 2017 were small to medium businesses. As the adage goes “one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure”, such is the case with data and information. You may not consider a data valuable but if a breach happens, it may land you and your business in hot waters and it can seriously damage your company’s image.
How do you perform a Cybersecurity Risk Analysis?
Below is a short summary of how a cybernetwork security strategist may evaluate and analyze your company’s current security condition.
Take a record of all the Network systems:
The analysis begins by collecting and tracing all the networks that your business connects with. This includes all your devices and the interaction of data between your vendors, your network provider, and your employees.
Identify the Vulnerabilities:
The next step would be to identify the vulnerabilities in the data flow between software and hardware. The most commonly found susceptibility in institutions are mobile devices, gadgets, and other associated devices. Unauthorized emails are also a potential threat. Other major weaknesses include non-administrative access to network, open-source operating systems, and malwares.
Limit the Cybersecurity Risks:
There is a plethora of ways to reduce network security risks but the most common course of action is to control data loss, network failures, backups, server breaches. But what requires the most attention are the business transactions and customer data. The encryption of these, along with the company’s personal data (such as employees’ identities, accounts, records) is of crucial importance.
Develop Strong Security Protocols:
After we’ve fixed the internal security problems of the company, now comes the time to set up a strong defense against potential attacks. The stronger the protocols, the safer your business is. You can do this by setting up a firewall, dedicated networks, and strong passphrases. Furthermore, using vendor risk management system and multi-level authentication with encryption on data can prove to be a robust guard against data infiltrators.
Image by Darwin Laganzon
