Strategies to Strengthen Cyber Risk Posture

Many organizations still rely on manual and siloed approaches to risk management, which prove to be error-prone, inefficient, and costly. To compound the issue, CISOs and decision-makers struggle to prioritize assets and determine the most effective security controls within limited budgets.

The cyber threat landscape is worsening every year. Incidents like malware, ransomware, and phishing are increasing even as security teams grapple to contain them. The average total cost of a data breach in India was at an all-time high of₹ 17.6 crores in 2022, as per a report by IBM. To put things in perspective, this is a 6.6% increase from ₹ 16.5 crores in 2021 and a whopping 25% jump from ₹ 14 crores in 2020.

The are several factors driving cybercrime. Threat actors constantly develop new methods, tactics, and technologies to break into organizations. Large amounts of personally identifiable information are stored online each day. In sectors like fintech, the sharing and hosting of data between unregulated digital gateways has become commonplace, exposing unwitting organizations to bad actors and increasing the likelihood of attacks. In the face of the unrelenting feed of ransomware, phishing, and unpatched vulnerabilities, businesses must review their risk posture and evaluate their strategies. But something is stopping them from building a strong risk posture.

Firstly, most organizations lack visibility on risk. Senior executives from different parts of the organization do not share the same visibility into cyber threats and vulnerabilities. Without a shared understanding of the cyber risk posture, there cannot be consensus on priorities, risk appetite, and, critically, budgets. Creating a shared view of cyber risks is the foundation for consistent action and investment. Secondly, several organizations still rely on manual and siloed approaches to risk management. This approach is often prone to errors and inadequacies. It is also resource-intensive, expensive, non-repeatable, and ineffective. Thirdly, CISOs and decision-makers are unsure which risks to deal with first. How should they prioritize their assets? And then, there may be hundreds of possible security controls. With limited budgets, how would they know which will yield the most benefits for the least cost?

To overcome these challenges and help businesses review and evaluate their risk strategies, here are a few pointers:

Build a robust risk-aware culture

A strong risk-aware culture plays a vital role in effective cyber risk management. Take, for example, the frontline managers in a bank. They are the first individuals in their organization whose job roles involve engaging with external stakeholders, customers, and partners. They make critical risk and compliance decisions every day. If the bank has a risk-aware culture, frontline executives would be alert enough to spot a suspicious transaction and empowered to file a suspicious transaction report (SLR). This way, they can actively stop the flow of illegal money and the associated financial crime. However, without a deeply embedded risk culture, they would not have been aware that they hold critical intelligence as they conduct their daily operations.

Organizations must develop a risk-aware culture backed by effective reporting tools to identify and mitigate risks proactively. This means empowering everyone, from the front line to the top management, to report cyber threats.

An effective risk-aware culture helps support an organization’s risk strategy and approach. It helps strengthen compliance with regulatory and statutory requirements, financial performance, and reputation in the market. The awareness, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals and groups in an organization will play an important role in building a risk-aware culture.

Leverage automation to continuously monitor and test effectiveness

Rising cyber risks, regulations, requirements, and the demands to do more with less make value-driven processes essential. Most organizations, however, rely on manual processes to monitor risk. Manual processes are resource-intensive, expensive, non-repeatable, and ineffective. That’s where Continuous Control Monitoring (CCM) and autonomous evidence collection come in.

Continuous Control Monitoring (CCM) is an approach based on automated tools and technologies to continuously monitor and test risk management processes and controls for effectiveness. The system enables automated, continuous testing and monitoring of controls across IT, financial transactions, and regulatory compliance. The technology-based, iterative approach enables organizations to detect anomalies that can go unnoticed with a traditional, manual, and periodic approach. With CCM, organizations are better equipped to identify risks proactively, continually improve cybersecurity and compliance posture, and reduce audit costs.

Quantify, prioritize, and communicate risks

Cyber risk quantification is measuring IT and cyber risk exposure in monetary terms. It helps organizations determine which risks to focus on first and where to allocate their resources for maximum impact. With cyber risk quantification, CISOs gain a deeper understanding of risk impact, which helps them make data-driven decisions. Boards have more visibility into what’s at stake for the business in terms of dollar value. Executives can effectively prioritize cybersecurity investments, driving alignment between cyber programs and business goals.

Cyber risk quantification tools help CISOs express cyber risk exposure in monetary and business terms. These tools will help drive effective communication across the C-suite and the larger enterprise. It is imperative to communicate cyber risk in a language all can understand. Effective communication helpsensure organization-wide collaboration. 

The future of cyber risk management 

Finally, organizations should not look at cyber risk in isolation. Operational, market and geopolitical risks are also thwarting business growth in India with significant impact. A connected view of governance, risk and compliance powered by the latest technologies can significantly improve an organization’s risk posture. Turning risk into a strategic advantage is a journey. With a robust risk-aware culture, a unified approach to risk management, established frameworks and state-of-the-art cyber risk management solutions, organizations can ensure they are better prepared to thrive amidst the growing risk landscape in the future.

Author: Prasad Sabbineni, Co-CEO, MetricStream