Have you ever heard of Information Security and Risk Management? What is it? And what are the different stages in making one?
If you want to know more, keep on reading.
Information Security And Risk Management Definition
And Information Security and Risk Management (ISRM) focuses on one thing. Keeping data safe. So, it manages any risk when it comes to information technology.
Then, when there is any risk, ISRM will:
- identify
- assess
- treat
This is to ensure that the CIA of the company’s data assets is intact. Or the:
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Availability
Further, the main goal of ISRM is to lessen and treat any risk. One that is aligned with the company’s risk tolerance. Because you cannot eliminate all risks.
Stages of Information Security And Risk Management
Identification
In making an ISRM, there are four stages. And identification is the first one. In this, you need to identify:
- Assets. List any data, system, or any other assets your company has. Then rank them based on the value they give to your company. Or which one has the most impact if its CIA fails.
- Vulnerabilities. Find any openings in the system or software that can damage your asset’s CIA.
- Threats. List anything that can threaten your data assets. May it be internal or external threats.
- Controls. Identify the controls you have to protect your listed assets. If there are none, make one.
Assessment
This is the stage where you need to combine the information you got from the first stage. Then, you need to define the risk based on those.
There are many ways to do this. But the most simple equation is:
- Risk = (threat x vulnerability (exploit likelihood x exploit impact) x asset value ) – security controls
Treatment
Once you finished assessing the risks, you need to choose how to treat them. Here are some ways:
- Remediation. This is a control that fixes the risks in full or almost in full. Like finding an opening and applying a patch for that one.
- Mitigation. This means lessening the risks or their impact. But not fixing it in full. Like instead of patching a weakness, you may opt to put up a firewall.
- Transference. This is by transferring risks to another entity. So that you can recover if ever it happens. Like buying insurance so that it can cover any losses if it happens.
- Risk Acceptance. This is when you accept any low risk. Or if there is no sensitive data present. And fixing it would cost more than it is when the risk happens.
- Risk Avoidance. Removing all risk exposure. Like when servers are near death and no patches are available. You may get all the stored data and transfer it to another one.
Communication
All need to know any decisions made. Stakeholders need to know the costs of treating or not treating any risks.
Also, employees need to understand the value of ISRM. And follow all guidelines. So, you need to outline the responsibility and accountability of each one.
With this, you ensure your data assets are safe.
