Cybersecurity Risk Assessment: What It Is and How To Get Started

Cyberattacks are costly, and not just from a financial standpoint. A successful attack that results in a data breach can cost millions of dollars, sure, but it also can cost careers and — possibly more importantly — trust. If your clients' or staff’s sensitive data is exposed to the world, will they ever trust your business again? How do you put a price on trust?

The ever-expanding digital space has made global business infinitely easier to conduct, but it’s also made businesses increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Assessment of risk should be a normal part of any business’s security protocol, but it’s extra important if you’re online in any way.

The means by which bad actors can perform a cyberattack and steal sensitive data is constantly evolving. Risk is everywhere in the cybersecurity game, so an annual cybersecurity risk assessment is vital to keeping your company, its data, and its systems safe from:

• Phishing attacks
• Data theft
• Compromised or stolen credentials
• Denial of Service (DoS) attacks
• Human error
• Malware infiltration
• Hardware failures

Here’s everything you need to know about performing a cybersecurity risk assessment.

What Is a Risk Assessment in Cybersecurity?

A risk assessment in cybersecurity is the process by which an organization identifies and evaluates potential threats to operations, assets, and individuals. A risk assessment process should be a regular part of an organization’s security program in order to protect the organization from all manner of attacks, but also to identify potential weaknesses and new types of threats.

The Importance of Analyzing Risk

Cyber attacks can come in many forms, from phishing attacks to malware infiltration to staff errors, and it can be costly to cover all your bases. But is that cost more than the potential risk? 

According to Reuters, in 2024, the average cost of a data breach hit nearly $5 million. For a single breach! Containing the breach, investigating the source, and dealing with any legal fallout; these are all costly reasons to analyze potential security risks before they happen. 

Comprehensive assessment of risk helps you:

• Identify potential risks to your organization and the data you store
• Begin mitigating issues before they happen
• Develop a plan to respond to attacks
• Develop a recovery plan if your security fails
• Assure stakeholders that they’re safe

Cybersecurity Risk Assessment in Five Steps

Cybersecurity and risk are like chickens and eggs; you can’t have one without the other. But while there's some debate about whether the chicken or the egg came first, when it comes to cybersecurity, the risk always seems to come first. 

Even the most on-top-of-it security risk manager is perpetually playing catch-up. One slip, and you’re even farther behind! That’s why IT security assessments are so important: You need to be as prepared as possible.

To get started with a risk management framework, you should be familiar with the Five C’s of Cybersecurity: Change, Compliance, Cost, Continuity, and Coverage. Understanding these elements will help you set up best practices for data security.

1. Account For Constant and Unexpected Change

All you need to do to see how constant change is in the digital world is to consistently log into any of your workplace dashboards. Inevitably (and regularly), the interface will change without warning, leaving you scrambling to adapt to the new format. Change is inevitable in the digital space, and you need to adapt. There’s no online area where this is more true than with cybersecurity.

That’s why the first step of your cybersecurity assessment is to understand and plan for potential changes. Know about changes in available tools, from software solutions to physical security. Be aware of changes to existing threats. Are they evolving? Have any been eradicated (so you can focus on other threats)? 

Understanding changes to the threat landscape helps you anticipate what’s coming, so you can prepare an action plan for any eventuality.

2. Check Your Compliance

Ensuring that your security measures are compliant with laws and regulations everywhere your organization operates is vital for your security and your client’s trust. Adhering to regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, PCI, and SOC 2 Type II protects your data and your client’s data from attacks, but it also protects your organization from legal issues in the wake of an actual breach. 

Regulatory bodies can be extremely helpful for your cybersecurity because they exist to provide guidance. Having another organization regularly survey the landscape and introduce guidelines built specifically to ensure data security means that it’s not entirely on your security team to know everything. Ensure that you’re up to date on all regulatory bodies and their guidelines that are relevant to your industry. Adherence to regulations isn’t foolproof, but it’s a good and necessary step.

‍3. Evaluate the Cost/Benefit Ratio

Evaluating cost is a two-tiered approach to your cybersecurity risk assessment. 

First, there’s the actual cost to your company to implement your cybersecurity. A comprehensive cybersecurity infrastructure can be a sizable investment, after all. But you then need to weigh the cost of that investment against the cost of a potential breach. Which is more? Is the level of risk worth the cost?

More often than not, you’ll come to the conclusion that being proactive about your security measures and mitigating risk before it happens is much more cost-effective than dealing with the fallout of a breach.

4. Create a Continuity Plan

Creating a continuity plan to keep your business up and running and your security in place in the wake of a breach or other security incident is vital. Downtime costs money, and lapsed security can lead to more and bigger breaches, so your continuity plan is a major part of your cybersecurity risk assessment.

A continuity plan includes, at a minimum:

• Disaster recovery center to act as a hub for all incident and recovery operations
• Strategies to ensure business operations don’t halt during the incident
• Process to prevent lapses in your security during recovery

Your continuity plan should be regularly tested to ensure that it’s up-to-date. 

5. Make Sure Everything is Covered by Your Plan

A security plan is only as strong as its weakest link, so part of your cybersecurity risk assessment should entail making sure that every potential “weak link” of your organization is covered. 

Think of your cybersecurity coverage like an impenetrable dome that covers everything your company touches. If anything is sticking out of the dome, it’s vulnerable to cyber threats and even natural disasters.

Make sure all digital assets are covered. Check for weaknesses in networks, software, passwords, applications, and data storage, but also physical assets like data centers, equipment, access points, and even real estate that houses those things.

Smart and Secure Enterprise Technology

The importance of risk assessment doesn’t stop with your company. If you work with external or third-party vendors, you should vet their security as well, especially if they handle your data in any way. 

For instance, if you work with Rev VoiceHub for its industry-leading transcription accuracy, AI assistance, and AI notetaker, you can rest assured that your content remains safe and secure. Some of VoiceHub’s security features include:

• Enterprise-grade security
• File protection and encryption
• HIPAA, PCI, and SOC 2 Type II-compliance
• Freelance transcriptionist validation
• File sharing permissions
• Data privacy

These security precautions should be matched by any of the third-party vendors you use that handle sensitive data like:

• Emails and passwords
• Financial information
• Health records
• Intellectual property
• Addresses and phone numbers
  

VoiceHub is a Vendor You Can Trust

When vetting your vendors as part of your cybersecurity risk assessment, we’re confident that you’ll find that VoiceHub passes even the most rigid security screening. Safely handling data is simply what we do, which is why our AI and data privacy measures are among the industry’s best.

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