IT Risk Management for Everyone

What Is IT Risk?

IT risk is any risk associated with the use of information technology that may potentially have a negative impact on business operations.

In other words, it concerns the vulnerability of our IT system to internal or external events capable of causing the alteration, theft or unavailability of data and functions.

IT Risk Management

Given the uncertain nature and continuous evolution of technology, IT risk management is a strategic challenge in any company. Four phases can be identified and must be carried out cyclically:

1. Risk analysis;
2. Implementation of procedures;
3. Monitoring, review and verification of those procedures;
4. Correction of the applied procedures.

Ten Fundamental Rules for IT Risk Management

Risk Management is a complex subject that cannot be covered in a simple article. We can still provide ten points for reflection that must not be missing from your strategy for analyzing, identifying and managing IT risk.

1. Every IT process carries risks. To assess pros and cons for each identified risk agent, the impact of the following must be considered:
   • Recovery costs;
   • Downtime costs;
   • Image damage;
   • Process delays.
2. The Disaster Recovery plan. For small and medium-sized companies, this means always having one or more backup units available, updated regularly and verified to work. Who wants to invest resources in backups that do not work?
3. Automatic update management. System updates are not a nuisance; they solve specific security and functionality problems.
4. Basic protection against malware and attacks. Antivirus is not enough to counter modern cyberattacks. Advanced firewalls and antivirus for web and email traffic are also needed to block attacks before they reach company PCs.
5. No to too many eggs in one basket. Too much data, too many applications and too many functions entrusted to the same system represent a gamble. Better to split the risk,
6. If resources are missing, rely on cloud solutions. It is much safer to use online email and document-storage services than improvised “local” solutions. Email and network are open doors for external intrusions into our IT system, and locally stored data is a burden to manage. If resources are lacking to implement even the most elementary safeguards, it is better to rely completely on external services and use a simple antivirus on each machine.
7. Configuration and maintenance of devices are not secondary to their presence. Many believe that buying a few appliances or services is enough to solve every problem. Rely on real experts for configuration, not improvised technicians.
8. Personnel must be bound by a clear and precise policy for using the IT network. No one excluded, from the manager to the secretary.
9. Do not suffer “paper security”. Compliance, laws and ISO standards are designed to be something good and positive; it is the attitude with which they are often implemented that turns them into something expensive, boring and useless. Any international security standard must be understood and applied intelligently to one's own reality.
10. Have a plan. IT security is first and foremost a cultural matter. A managerial figure must take responsibility for thinking about and managing security at a high level in the company, and for explaining to everyone else why it matters and what role they have in making the plan succeed.

IT Risk Management for Everyone

Today large companies have professional figures dedicated exclusively to IT risk management. Very often, however, this involves excessive costs for small and medium-sized enterprises. For this reason, ISGroup consulting solutions and targeted security checks performed through EasyAudit represent a winning alternative for SMEs.