Why Should You Complete A Security Risk Assessment?

Whether you have all the answers or not, completing a security risk assessment will help you to identify the vulnerable areas and risky procedures that can increase the risk of a security breach in your office. 

Here are 9 reasons why your company needs to complete a security risk assessment on a regular basis. 

1. Privacy Laws
   Protecting confidential information is the aw, and companies that don't comply could face fines, and other penalties. 
   
2. Risk
   Research shows that businesses of any size, in all industries are at risk for a security breach, whether caused but an external attack or an internal error. 
   
3. Cost
   Data breaches are expensive. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
   
4. Housekeeping
   Many workplaces still have open recycling bins. To reduce the risk of a data breach, replace them with locked containers and secure document destruction. A document retention schedule, including secure shredding services and a Shred-All Policy is recommended to ensure that all confidential information is securely destroyed. 
   
5. Risk Management
   The 3 main causes of data breaches are; Criminal Attacks, System Glitches, and Human Error. However, the mobile workforce is growing is and with it, new risk factors to worry about. Many working professionals have said that the company they work for has no policy on working in public places. This creates a huge risk of confidential information falling into the wrong hands. 
   
6. Employees
   Staff needs to be trained in the importance of security, how to spot an attack, and what to do when they see something suspicious.
   
7. Reputation Management
   Data breaches can cause major damage to the reputation of an organization. In fact, research shoes that the loss of customer loyalty do to a failing reputation does the most damage to a company's bottom line. Following a data breach, companies need to invest heavily to gain new customers, and attempt to save their brand image. 
   
8. Be Proactive
   Rather than hoping that a data breach won't happen, it's important to know how to reduce the risk of one occurring, and to put in a few safeguards to ensure that they won't. Strong security will result in the greatest decrease in the cost of a data breach. 
   
9. Awareness
   The first step towards addressing & improving information security practices.