A Quick Guide To Performing A Data Risk Assessment

FACT: Almost 70% of enterprises can only classify less than half of their sensitive data (Thales).

According to IBM, in 2023, it took companies an average of 204 days to identify a breach.

Obviously, protecting your sensitive data is a challenge if you don’t know where it is or what it contains.

In this post, you’ll learn how to perform a data risk assessment as well as the most common mitigation strategies companies should deploy.

Table of contents:

What Is a Data Risk Assessment?

A data risk assessment is the process of identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing potential risks to an organization’s data. The process involves examining the various threats, vulnerabilities, and potential impacts that could compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive information.

By performing a data risk assessment, organizations gain a deep understanding of their data landscape, including the types of data they possess, where it is stored, how it is processed, and who has access to it. The assessment helps uncover weaknesses in existing security controls, compliance issues, and areas that require immediate attention. By quantifying and prioritizing risks based on their likelihood and potential consequences, business leaders can make informed decisions about resource allocation and minimize the likelihood and impact of a data breach.

Why is a Data Risk Assessment important?

A data risk assessment is an important component of an effective data security strategy for a number of reasons, including:

1. Identify vulnerabilities and threats: A data risk assessment helps organizations identify potential vulnerabilities and threats to their data assets. It evaluates the likelihood and impact of various risks, such as cyber-attacks, unauthorized access, data breaches, and system failures. By identifying these risks, organizations can prioritize their security efforts and allocate resources accordingly.
2. Understand the value of data assets: During a data risk assessment, organizations classify their data assets based on their sensitivity, criticality, and potential impact if compromised. This process helps organizations understand the value of their data and develop appropriate security controls to protect their most valuable assets.
3. Comply with regulations and industry standards: Many regulations and industry standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and ISO 27001, require organizations to conduct regular risk assessments as part of their data security and privacy practices. Failing to perform these assessments can result in non-compliance penalties and legal liabilities.
4. Risk mitigation and management: By identifying and assessing risks, organizations can develop and implement risk mitigation strategies to reduce the likelihood and impact of potential threats. This includes implementing security controls, updating policies and procedures, and developing incident response plans.
5. Informed decision-making: A data risk assessment’s findings and recommendations provide valuable insights for decision-makers. This information can guide strategic planning, resource allocation, and investment decisions related to data security and risk management.
6. Protect reputation and trust: Data breaches and security incidents can severely damage an organization’s reputation, customer trust, and financial stability. By proactively identifying and mitigating risks through a data risk assessment, organizations can protect their brand image and maintain the trust of their customers, partners, and stakeholders.

How to perform a Data Risk Assessment

Performing a repeatable data risk assessment requires a systematic process. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Define the Scope: Determine which parts of your organization’s data, systems, and processes will be included in the assessment. This can depend on your goals, resources, and the nature of your data.
2. Identify Data Assets: Catalog all data assets within the scope of the assessment. This includes databases, files, applications, and any other repositories where data is stored.
3. Classify Data: Categorize the data based on sensitivity, regulatory requirements, and importance to the organization. This will help prioritize which data needs the most protection.
4. Identify Threats: List potential threats that could compromise your data. This can include cyber-attacks, natural disasters, human error, and insider threats.
5. Assess Vulnerabilities: Evaluate your systems, processes, and controls to identify weaknesses that could be exploited by the identified threats. This can involve using tools like vulnerability scanners or conducting penetration tests.
6. Evaluate Risks: For each combination of asset, threat, and vulnerability, estimate the likelihood of the threat occurring and the potential impact on the organization. This will help you prioritize risks.
7. Determine Risk Level: Based on the likelihood and impact, assign a risk level (e.g., low, medium, high) to each risk. This will help in deciding which risks need immediate attention.
8. Develop Mitigation Strategies: Develop strategies to mitigate high-priority risks. This could involve implementing new security measures, enhancing existing controls, or accepting the risk if it’s within your organization’s risk tolerance.
9. Implement Controls: Implement the risk mitigation strategies. This may involve technical solutions, changes to processes, or employee training.
10. Monitor and Review: Regularly monitor the effectiveness of your controls and review the risk assessment periodically. This is important because new threats emerge, and your organization’s data and systems change over time.

Common risk mitigation strategies

With the average cost of a data breach at USD 4.45 million (Verizon), implementing the right mitigation strategies is critical. Some common mitigation strategies that every business should implement are:

1. Access Controls: Implementing access controls, such as role-based access, least privilege principles, and multi-factor authentication, can help mitigate the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive files.
2. Network Segmentation: Implementing network segmentation and separating critical systems and data from less secure environments can limit the potential impact of a breach.
3. Encryption: Encrypting data both at rest and in transit using strong encryption algorithms and proper key management practices can protect data from unauthorized access and interception.
4. Security Awareness Training: Regular security awareness training can help mitigate the risk of human errors, social engineering attacks, and inadvertent data leaks.
5. Patch Management: Keeping software, systems, and applications up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates can help address known vulnerabilities and reduce the risk of exploitation.
6. Incident Response Plan: Developing and testing an incident response plan can help organizations respond effectively to security incidents, minimize damage, and facilitate recovery.
7. Data Backup and Recovery: Establishing and testing data backup and recovery procedures can ensure the availability and integrity of data in case of system failures, cyber-attacks, or other incidents.
8. Vendor Risk Management: Assessing and managing the security risks associated with third-party vendors, suppliers, and service providers that have access to or handle sensitive data.
9. Penetration Testing: Conducting regular penetration testing and vulnerability assessments can help identify and address weaknesses in the organization’s security posture.
10. Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Implementing DLP solutions can help organizations detect and prevent the unauthorized transfer or exposure of sensitive files.
11. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): Implementing a SIEM solution can help organizations collect, analyze, and correlate security events and logs, enabling better threat detection and incident response.
12. Data Breach Monitoring: Implementing data breach monitoring solutions can help organizations detect if their data has been compromised and is being traded or exposed on underground forums and illicit marketplaces.

Need real-time visibility into your breached data? Book a demo to see how Breachsense enables your security team to identify and mitigate security risks before they’re exploited.