Enabling Effective IT Risk Management

Modern business today is constantly evolving, changing, and is very dynamic. It is continuously disrupted, distributed, and dependent on information and technology. Technology, information security, and IT compliance is no longer just about the IT department and bowels of the data center, however, but is the responsibility across the organization in an increasingly digital world.

IT risk is a big challenge and getting more complex in the context of continuous evolution and change, regulations, and risk environments. As pervasive as they are today, cyber threats continue to grow more severe as time goes on — each newly-developed way to communicate or do business online creates new pathways that hackers, industrial spies, and state-sponsored operatives are ready to exploit. 

Data breaches are simply a fact of life. Organizations and institutions everywhere are facing this rising threat, and cyber risk continues to grow in severity. The IBM/Ponemon Institute study reported that the cost of a data breach averaged about $242 per stolen record, and more than $8 million total for an average breach in the US – with an even higher cost if the breach involved a third-party. The Ponemon Institute study also concluded that the average organization has a 29.6% chance of experiencing a cyberattack in the next 2 years. 

Statista has reported that $3.5 billion of total damage has been caused by cybercrime in the U.S. alone between 2001-2019, whereas Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that cybercrime will cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025.

A breach of information and data security will inevitably hurt the organization in multiple places, creating liabilities and limitations that can take years to overcome. Damage from a breach is never limited to one aspect of a company’s operations. The true long-term cost of a breach involves lost opportunities and competitive disadvantages that are impossible to fully quantify and calculate. 

In order to manage IT risk effectively, the organization needs a strategy that is aligned with its objectives. This strategy will enable IT risk management to provide holistic insight into processes, business areas, and information across the extended enterprise to build IT risk awareness and efficiency throughout the organization. 

A lack of integration in the IT risk management program is not sustainable and leads to inevitable failures and regulatory exposure. To address the problem your organization must implement an integrated process with uniformed policies, procedures, and processes for IT risk. 

Building effectiveness, efficiency, and agility within your organization’s IT risk management program is essential to an organization and its resiliency. A potential breach can put into question issues of the organization’s integrity, quality, practices, and security. It is essential for your organization to ensure that IT risk is managed adequately to protect itself from risk exposure and maintain brand integrity and resiliency.