Cybersecurity Risk Assessments:
The Digital Health Check Your Organization Needs

A Compliance-Based Risk Assessment is a systematic process ensuring an organization meets specific regulatory and industry standards. These standards could include regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). The assessment identifies risks related to non-compliance and evaluates their potential impact on the organization.

Key Components:

• Understanding the Requirements: Identity the specific requirements of the regulations and standards that apply to the organization.
• Gap Analysis: Compare current practices and controls against the regulatory requirements to identify gaps, focusing on any risks associated with non-compliance.
• Risk Assessment: Assess the potential impact of these risks on the organization and recommending mitigation Strategies.
• Mitigation Strategies: Develop and implement strategies to address identified gaps and reduce the risk of non-compliance.

This type of assessment focuses on identifying and assessing an organization’s technical systems, evaluating whether they have vulnerabilities that could be exploited and their potential impact. These vulnerability scans are ideal for organizations that want to understand their internal technical weaknesses and prioritize remediation efforts.

The assessment is conducted using Vulnerability assessment tools, specialized software that scans the system for known vulnerabilities, such as outdated software, weak passwords, or misconfigured settings. When the scanner concludes its assessment, it generates a list of any vulnerabilities it finds. These could include missing security patches, open ports, or insecure configurations. It also generates a report that detailing all the vulnerabilities found and possible remediation steps. This report helps IT teams understand what needs to be fixed to improve security.

A penetration test, often called a “pen test,” is a simulated cyber-attack on your computer systems, networks, or applications conducted by ethical hackers. The goal is to identify and exploit vulnerabilities to see how well your defenses are against an actual attack. This helps find and fix security weaknesses before malicious hackers exploit them.

Steps Involved:

1. Defining Scope and Objectives: Once a company decides to perform this assessment, the first step is to define the scope and objectives of the test. This includes determining which systems will be tested. Assessors will gather information about the target systems to identify potential entry points.
2. Exploitation of Vulnerabilities: The assessor will attempt to exploit identified vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access. This could involve techniques like phishing, SQL injection, or exploiting software bugs. If the assessor gains access to the system, they will determine the extent of the breach and the potential damage. They might try to escalate privileges, access sensitive data, or move laterally within the network.
3. Reporting and Remediation: Once the test concludes, a detailed report is generated outlining the vulnerabilities found, how they were exploited, and recommendations for remediation. The organization addresses the identified vulnerabilities, and a follow-up test may be conducted to ensure the issues have been resolved.