<img src="https://ws.zoominfo.com/pixel/4CagHYMZMRWAjWFEK36G" width="1" height="1" style="display: none;">
Request Demo

Integrated Risk Management, NIST Risk Management Framework

Critical Capabilities of Cyber Risk Assessment Software Tools

down-arrow

As Boards and CEOs begin to grow concerned about security threats affecting their enterprise, CISOs, and information security teams are faced with translating their cyber risks into business terms. Using cyber risk assessment tools is useful but only half the battle - to effectively communicate the cyber risks of the organization, technical leaders need to employ cyber security risk assessment tools that help automate the menial workflows of assessments for web vulnerabilities. Here we’ll examine the critical capabilities that these risk dashboards must have to support organizations at varying maturity levels. 

Foundations of Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Tools

As we’ve explored before, this new role that cybersecurity leaders find themselves in - reporting to board members and the CEO and serving as a business function - has triggered the need for a more integrated approach, as these leaders must be able to report up consistently. Whether integrated GRC or a pure integrated risk management approach, enterprises are prioritizing risk-based security solutions over simple checkbox compliance. The result is an organization driven by consistent security audits and the use of security risk assessment (SRA) tools, with compliance being a facet of the overall strategy. 


cyber security risk assessment

The critical capability that an effective cybersecurity reporting tool will have is easy access to standard risk management frameworks. For an integrated approach, the more closely aligned that compliance and risk can be, the better - for example, the CyberStrong platform uses both NIST SP 800-30 risk scoring methodology as well as elements of the FAIR model for risk analysis. 

Cyber Risk Assessment Dashboards 

The next layer above the control assessment level is the aggregate within a given assessment - in this case, the critical capability for any cyber risk dashboard is the real-time delivery of network security information. Using real-time data can help illuminate identified security risks and lead to faster remediation. 

 

 

While the representation reflected in these dashboards can vary based on the risk assessment framework that an organization decides to employ, the core capability is relaying information from throughout the organization up to leaders. At a baseline, regardless of the framework used, these dashboards must deliver an inherent risk profile for the context of those controls. With automation being a high-level priority to save time for security teams, real-time dashboards empower fast decision-making for leaders as well as reduce the effort necessary to report to technical leaders. 

 

 

Automated Risk Reports 

 

Finally, for top-level reporting, automation becomes the most crucial aspect of a cyber risk management and assessment tool. Cybersecurity teams can waste countless hours generating reports to show progress to remediation and relay existing risks to business-side leaders. Where speed was the vital aspect at the dashboard level, the automatic creation of security assessments can reduce unnecessary team hours and redirect those efforts to remediation. 

The value of this cybersecurity tool is that platforms can create reports that never existed before in an organization - in the case of CyberStrong, the Executive Risk report is something new to most organizations but saves cybersecurity teams massive volumes of time. Business-orientated reports help bridge the gap that many organizations face today between technical and business leaders. With a more integrated approach, organizations must find a way to bridge that gap. 


Integration, Real-time, and Automation

With data breaches capturing headlines seemingly weekly, the need for a high-level defensible view of cyber posture is more important than ever. The critical capabilities of a cyber risk management tool: integration of compliance and vulnerability assessments, real-time display of high-risk data, and automated reporting of risk trends and cybersecurity maturity are the capabilities that CISOs must look for in a cybersecurity risk assessment tool. 

You may also like

How Cyber Risk Management Tools ...
on December 6, 2023

In the ever-expanding digital landscape, businesses continually embrace many technologies to stay competitive and agile. However, this rapid adoption often leads to a complex web ...

The Complications of Cyber Risk ...
on November 28, 2023

In an era where digital landscapes are expanding unprecedentedly, the need for robust cybersecurity measures has become more critical than ever. As organizations strive to ...

Why I Joined CyberSaint: It’s All ...
on December 5, 2023

As I join CyberSaint as Chief Product Officer, I can't help but reflect on the path that led me to this opportunity. In college, I remember listening to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” in ...

November Product Update
on December 5, 2023

With the latest release of updates to the CyberStrong platform, we are dedicated to providing solutions that empower you to assess your security posture effectively and ...

The FAIR Risk Model: A Practical ...
on December 5, 2023

Contending with the increased interest by Boards and executive leaders in cybersecurity, CISOs and security teams need a risk assessment model that can easily translate cyber risk ...

How to Select the Right Cyber Risk ...
on December 5, 2023

As organizations recognize the importance of cyber risk management, the challenge of selecting the right cyber risk management services for the company comes. An efficient cyber ...