A general security assessment is a detailed review of a company’s internal and external policies, processes, functions and any risks that may compromise the integrity of the organisation. In a third party cyber security risk assessment, the risks of a data breach or cyber attack are evaluated, including any operational compliance or competitive risks. Periodic risk assessments are vital to the welfare and growth of any company and are mostly required in order to meet compliance or regulatory standards.
Occasionally, when businesses are on the verge of signing off a contract with a client, they may be asked a few questions regarding the relative cyber security of the company. They may ask questions like what technology you have in place, how you train your team, how often you test your systems and more. It would seem unprofessional and a bit dubious if you were not able to answer these questions for a client. Having the security measures in place to answer these questions correctly, is increasingly a part of life for small businesses.
BENEFITS OF A THIRD PARTY CYBER SECURITY ASSESSMENT
An unbiased, third party assessor will provide impartial and cost-effective methods and benefits to the company. As they are being contracted from outside, they will help organisations realise the reality of their cyber security posture with complete transparency.
The evaluation will bring potential security risks to light and help organisations stay attentive to possible external threats. Any threats that are left unchecked can have an adverse financial, image or status effect on any company. These assessments are even more vital for small organisations that may not have a big IT department that is equipped, or have the required training and facilities required to undertake a full assessment.
Even if a third party assessor is seen as an ‘unnecessary expenditure’, as supposed to a quick, surface level internal assessment, in the long run it will cost the company much less to have these periodic checkups rather than spending a huge lump sum to fix a massive issue if a cyber security breach occurs. Statistics show that 43% of all cyber attacks are to small and medium sized businesses so they are at high risk. Surface level checkups would not be able to detect most malicious hackers in a system until it’s too late.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM AN ASSESSMENT
Assessments are designed to be collaborative and helpful. They are not designed to be uptight and strict like an audit and are not created to point fingers and put blame on any shortcomings. These third party assessments are to aid companies in making informed decisions and to make them aware of how strong or weak their cyber security actually is. They also monitor ongoing processes and procedures and let companies know is they are updated with the standard best practices in their industry.
Beforehand, it is important to collect and organise all documents and files that need to be reviewed. Additionally, ensure that the assessor has access to the physical website for review if deemed necessary. In order to save time and to be as efficient as possible, it’s best to lay out all content required for the assessment, without having to dig for it upon request from the assessor several times.
The time for a full assessment may take about a day. It can be done in person, Microsoft Teams, etc. which saves on travel costs. One thing that helps is having plenty of time to schedule and discuss what actually needs to be reviewed before the assessment date so that everything can be prepared beforehand.
Finally, when looking for a company to perform a cyber security risk assessment on your organisation, it’s important to do your own research as well. It’s vital to check what exact industries the assessor has had experience with, as security differs from industry to industry. Make sure that the assessor you work with can personalise the assessments to fit your company’s and your clients’ needs and answers and will give you detailed insights to their findings.
