The world of technology is constantly changing, which means the ways of securing your information must follow suit. There is nothing more detrimental to your company than, for example, leaked information or a breach of your secured password-protected systems. At Nuvodia, we stay ahead of the curve to help combat hacking, malware issues, and overall cyber risks with our IT Security Risk Assessment.

What is considered a cyber risk?

To put it simply, cyber risk is exposure to harm or loss resulting from breaches of or attacks on information technology systems. Specifically, if the system is vulnerable to threats to loss of data or harmful attacks to the software within the IT infrastructure.

Cyber risks  can result in money loss, reputational harm, and even something as simple as what the average person calls “a crash in the system,” hindering  productivity. Cyber risks also can include theft of intellectual property or a change to an environment, like working from home.

Risks can be internal, which comes from inside the company, or external, like a hacker injecting a virus into your system. Here’s a good list of individual security components that can impact cyber risk but, we’d like to name a few:

• Device

If your mobile devices are attached to company software, keep them safe and manageable.

• Email

Screening phishing on inbound and outbound emails. This is a high-risk area for reputational harm. For example, a hacker posing as a co-worker through their email username.

• Perimeter

Nuvodia can help provide a shield around your network and how far it reaches out, monitoring the through traffic of your network.

What is a cybersecurity risk assessment?

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure”, as they say. That’s why Nuvodia believes in the importance of assessing your security before you even have to worry about cyberattacks.

A cybersecurity risk assessment helps a business or an organization understand the impact their IT Security has and what they can do to make it better. Knowledge is power and having knowledge over something like Information Technology, can help a company keep classified information, data, and workspaces as protected as possible.

Why perform a cybersecurity risk assessment?

Performing a cybersecurity risk assessment will give you a plan to act before disaster strikes.

In 2020, COVID-19 dramatically affected the business community globally. The need for remote work was critical and transitioned many to a work from home environment.  Many of us remain in that state today. Securing the new technologies deployed to accomplish the move home became a top priority, as employees, business owners, and others were now often wireless and or connecting to different servers, workstations, and VPN systems in a whole new way.

The physical and logical environment of a workspace changed, and this made many more vulnerable to unknown viruses, spam, and worst of all, hackers… a lot of this without most business owners even knowing it.

 When you perform a cybersecurity risk assessment, you are laying down the groundwork for your team to secure information, and, of course, get rid of a massive headache!

Web-filtering, anti-virus solutions, AI-driven email protection, as well as encrypting and backing up information, are all part of the process in how to keep your company protected and need assessment before the mess of a Cyber event.

What steps are involved in performing a risk assessment?

There are many steps to performing a risk assessment. Following each step thoroughly will help you identify what you need to better your IT security.

1. Review

It is important to look at the security grade that is already in place. So, you want to look at things like: Perimeter Security, End-point Security, Content Security, Email Security, Business Continuity, Policy Enforcement, and Connected Devices.

• Review what kinds of things can be easily recreated, for example, email imposters.
• Look at how easily others connect to your company site.
• What kind of content is there? Is it readily accessible information or secure and confidential information?

Is there monetary value attached to this information? Reputational value? Intellectual property that could be in demand?

2. Organize

Next, you want to organize all the applications and workspaces you use between you and your colleagues.

By organizing what you do have, you can get reduce your cyber footprint and help get rid of applications or databases that don’t serve your company. Reducing your cyber footprint makes your company less vulnerable to attacks.

3. Identify Risks

Are there any outright risks associated with your system?

Examples of this can include:

• Data leaks
• Phishing emails
• Viruses
• Encryptions

4. Analyze and Be Proactive

What can you do to act now? How can you optimize your security so it doesn’t just secure a single device?

Do you need to protect wireless workstations? VPN?

Do you need a firewall?

Are you a Local Area Network (LAN) or a WAN, which connects multiple LANs?

Asking yourself these questions will help you analyze your system, set up a plan and be proactive on what you can do in case of a cybersecurity emergency.

 

Is your Seattle or Spokane business at risk of a cyber attack? 

Cyberattacks can happen anywhere, but the state of Washington makes the top 15 at risk for a cyberattack in the United States, taking the 12th spot on the list. In fact, the City of Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management reports that not only are cyber-attacks becoming more sophisticated, but Seattle poses a growing threat.

Industries that are most at risk for cyberattacks are small to medium-sized businesses, as well as the healthcare industry.

Assessing the risk and potential exposure to threatening software is what can save you time, money, effort, and sleepless nights.

How Nuvodia can help with your IT security risk assessment:

Nuvodia works to help you gain knowledge. We partner directly with your team and help you understand an in-depth analysis of how to secure your system. We have insight services that are trustworthy, a support team that works around the clock, and flexible pricing for your financial benefit. In fact, our assessment consultation is FREE ($1,500 value). We go through all of the steps to perform an assessment with your team and make it as easy as possible for you. We have a proven track record of success. Let us show you how. Contact us today.

If you live outside of the Spokane and Seattle areas, visit our preferred vendor list here.