Gone are the days when professionals deemed cyber risk quantification (CRQ) a convoluted and unnecessary risk practice that added stress to the metrics security leaders tracked and presented. Instead, CRQ has become a focal point for managing cyber risk and a driver of conversations with the Board and executive leaders. As the criticality of CRQ has grown, so have the approaches to quantification and risk models. Continue reading this blog to learn how CRQ improves cyber risk management and how to select the best cyber risk quantification company for your organization.
Quantified Cyber Risk for Enhanced Risk Management
Cybersecurity data is quite technical. To a seasoned professional, cyber metrics as they are might make sense, but to the business-side leaders, these metrics just seem like a mess of numbers. CRQ whittles away the technical jargon of cybersecurity metrics and translates the potential impact and event frequency into financial terms. While CISOs must update Boards and executive leaders on cybersecurity data, they should refrain from presenting granular technical details of cybersecurity during a Board meeting. CISOs simply won’t have enough time to do that.
The key takeaways of a CISO’s board report should include insights on industry-relevant threats, the ROSI, the financial impact of security operations, areas of improvement, and projected cybersecurity investments needed. CRQ is the solution to this. Different risk quantification models and CRQ companies have entered the market. We are here to guide you through our recommendations for CRQ.
Choose a Suitable Cyber Risk Quantification Solution
Companies with varying maturity levels necessitate risk assessment models that can meet their needs. Different companies offer different approaches and models. Let’s review some top choices to explore available solutions.
RiskLens
RiskLens was one of the first FAIR-focused solutions for cyber risk quantification. This solution is dedicated to the FAIR methodology and is suitable for organizations that prioritize the FAIR model and only need CRQ out of the solution. RiskLens allows customers to enter data for all ontologies for the assessment methodology.
Safe Security
Safe Security has recently acquired RiskLens to embed FAIR in its SAFE platform. Aside from the FAIR model, SAFE offers its approach by rolling up risk data into a scoring model unique to SAFE. The process of this model is not transparently stated, leaving security professionals and CISOs unable to defend metrics or evaluate how the security leader concluded such metrics.
CyberSaint
CyberSaint offers a comprehensive approach to cyber risk quantification for companies of all sizes and maturities. CyberSaint strives to provide solutions that grow with the organization instead of limiting teams to a single approach. Flexibility is vital to cyber risk management.
For a more beginner approach that focuses on qualitative results, the CyberStrong platform offers NIST 800-30. This NIST-developed framework identifies, prioritizes, and mitigates risks through system characterization, threat identification, vulnerability assessment, and risk management.
For organizations that have robust maturity, FAIR and CyberInsight are available options. These two risk assessment models deliver financialized risk insights. FAIR, as discussed above, is a gold-standard approach for risk quantification. CyberInsight is CyberSaint’s unique VERIS and MITRE-based risk model. CyberSaint modeled the CyberInsight model after how security practitioners evaluate threat actor types, vulnerability opportunities, impact level of threats, and security control postures.
Axio
Axio takes a GRC approach to CRQ by defining risk scenarios based on security scans, recent events, and actual losses from industry sources. Axio then takes the risk scenarios and calculates the financial and tangible impact. However, the model this analysis is based on is not stated, taking away a layer of transparency in the risk management process. Security leaders must know how these calculations are completed. They must know the models in use. When Board leaders are going to ask where these calculations came from, CISOs cannot afford to say they do not know.
When reporting on potential financial impact and recruiting leaders to invest in cybersecurity, CISOs need to be confident in their data. One way of ensuring data integrity is by understanding the risk models used.
CRQ as a Function of Cyber Risk Management
CRQ with CyberStrong is just one piece of the puzzle. The CyberStrong platform layers continuous control monitoring (CCM) with risk register functionality and CRQ. Control groups are tied to risks in CyberStrong’s Risk Register, so users get alerts when a control score changes and automatically update their risk posture. Customers then layer on CRQ via a model of their choice and get a view into the quantified risks their unique enterprise faces, including risk severity, potential financial loss, and impact based on historical cyber loss data.
By layering CRQ with other cyber risk management processes, CyberStrong can bridge the gap between cybersecurity and finance. CyberStrong offers a solution that delivers quantifiable metrics and helps customers build their cyber risk management program - regardless of the organization's maturity.
Schedule a conversation with CyberSaint to discover the power of CyberStrong and how our flexible approach can help you achieve streamlined cyber risk quantification using one risk model or all three risk models for enhanced cyber risk insights.
