For SMEs, cyber risks are becoming increasingly business-critical. They represent an ever-present threat and impact all the parties involved – the company itself, its customers and partners. This is why cyber risk management and the self-monitoring that goes with it are important aspects of the overall security set-up of a company, and for a company as a trusted partner. In this blog post, you will learn why this is the case.
To ensure that work is done as efficiently as possible, activities are being outsourced more, so increasing dependence on third parties. This has resulted in supply chain management gaining importance in recent years, especially in terms of cyber security aspects. If a security incident occurs at your company, at a supplier or partner's site, there can be a severe impact on your processes and/or the processes of your upstream or downstream partners in the value chain. This can cause considerable financial losses, damage to your reputation or even legal consequences. But even if you are not dependent on third parties, your company is becoming increasingly exposed to cyber risks ‒ and cyber criminals are increasingly targeting Swiss companies.
Have you already analysed your cyber risks? That's a very good thing, and if you have also taken the appropriate measures, much the better. Unfortunately, the job is never finished. It is important to keep an eye on cyber risks all the time. As is so often the case, cyber risks are not static situations, they are highly dynamic. So there are good reasons for regular monitoring of cyber risks:
Unfortunately, a lot of companies underestimate general cyber risks. This is why it is important not only to carry out a one-off risk assessment but also to do regular monitoring and to define a risk strategy (reduce, accept, outsource, etc.) so as to ultimately comply with a “leading practice” approach. The challenges facing SMEs in managing cyber security risks are considerable. In our experience, significant difficulties result from:
Regrettably, these difficulties show that cyber-risk management is still a neglected issue today. However, cyber risks in particular are also fundamental for SMEs and must not be ignored.
Cyber risk management serves as a basis and helps identify and deal with dangers and risks at an early stage, as well as proactively defining the actions and measures to be taken in the event of an incident. We recommend the use of standards and best practices as a guide. Version 1.1 of the NIST Cyber Security Framework and the ICT minimum standard reflect new technological developments and provide a recognised framework for cyber risk management. Without question, one important focus is risk identification. Another aspect is communicating and verifying cyber security requirements between your company and the third parties involved. In this context, it is essential to ensure that data and digital intellectual property are protected, as required by the company's own cyber security requirements. If necessary, this can be validated by performing security assessments, vulnerability scans and penetration tests. Professional solutions will help you to implement cyber risk management in a way that manages resources efficiently. There are obvious advantages. Only solutions like these can provide the required transparency about your cyber risks, manage and sustainably minimise them.
Our many years of experience in the field of cyber security mean that we have the expertise needed to assist you in defining and setting up your cyber risk monitoring. We help you to understand your current risk landscape and assess your risks, define your risk management strategy and implement the measures required. Our Cyber Risk Self-Monitoring Service, based on SecurityScorecard, provides you with valuable information. Thanks to cyber risk monitoring, you can identify, manage and transparently report your risks around the clock. Of course, you can also use SecurityScorecard to assess the security of your supply chain. You can learn more about this on our webpage.