Digital threats are constantly evolving, with cyber attacks on the rise and hacking techniques becoming more sophisticated. Your organization can prepare against these by conducting a regular, thorough IT risk assessment. This involves understanding how potential vulnerabilities–whether external or internal–might affect your business operations. With a thorough risk assessment, you’ll gain insights about how to prioritize risks and protect critical assets.
This guide breaks down IT risk assessment into actionable steps, offering insights into industry-tested strategies as well as common hazards. Whether you’re tackling cybersecurity risks or compliance challenges, this guide equips you with tools and knowledge to safeguard your organization.
What is an IT risk assessment?
An IT risk assessment identifies and evaluates security risks in information technology (IT) so that you can take measures at an early stage and avert threats. IT risk assessment is intended to support IT experts and information security officers in reducing vulnerabilities that can harm information architecture and business assets.
An IT risk assessment checklist is used by IT staff to identify potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities and minimize the risks to organizational operations. At Lumiform, you can download pre-made IT risk assessment checklists that you can easily edit. If an emergency is underway, utilising an IT business continuity template to ensure operations continue is advised.
The 4 phases of an IT risk assessment
Every company should know the threats and vulnerabilities that threaten their information security on a daily basis. The IT risk assessment consists of several phases in succession:
1. Identification of IT risks
The first step is identifying potential threats that could compromise your organization’s IT infrastructure. This involves systematically mapping out all assets like:
- Hardware: Servers, routers, workstations
- Software: Enterprise applications, databases
- Network components
You’ll then evaluate how they may be vulnerable. Risks can range from external threats like hacking, phishing, and malware attacks to internal ones, including human errors, outdated software, or accidental data breaches. You can use tools like vulnerability scanners or penetration testing to streamline the process.
2. Assessment of the probability of occurrence
Once you’ve identified an IT risk, determine the probability of occurrence in more detail. You can use a probability scale with numerical values, such as:
- Low (1): Rare occurrence or unlikely
- Medium (2): May happen in certain situations
- High (3): Likely to happen based on known vulnerabilities or past incidents
Phishing attacks are usually high probability, while hardware failures or natural disasters like earthquakes might be low.
3. Assessment of the consequences and possible damage
Next, what are the possible effects and consequences? For example, the authenticity and confidentiality of data or the loss of important system functions may suffer. Possible damages are: Company reputation, loss of image, costs for repairs, legal disputes, etc.
You’ll then assess the damage similarly, with a rating scale:
- Negligible (1): Minimal impact
- Mild (2): Small but noticeable disruptions that may require short-term fixes
- Moderate (3): Significant operational disruptions or damage to internal systems
- Severe (4): High impact
- Catastrophic (5): Irreversible damage to the business
Loss of critical data would count as severe. On the other hand, small repair costs and temporary slowdowns would be mild.
4. Determination of the total extent of the risk
The actual IT risk results from the manipulation of the probability of occurrence and the amount of damage. You can multiply both factors (based on numerical ratings) to get an overall risk score.
This allows you to prioritize which risks need the most immediate attention. Risks with high scores would be flagged as critical, and you would address these first. On the other hand, you can tackle low-priority risks later on, over time.
Key points of an IT risk assessment
IT experts and security officers should consider the following points when performing an IT risk analysis:
- Identify company assets – These can be confidential information, customer information, hardware, software, and network topology. The best way is to work with other departments to identify other valuable company assets and determine which of them to prioritize.
- What are the threats? – Primary threats include natural disasters, human error/malicious intent, and system failure.
- What are the vulnerabilities? – Security vulnerabilities are weaknesses that expose assets to potential threats. Regular internal audits and penetration tests can help uncover vulnerabilities in the company.
- Likelihood of incidents – An IT risk assessment of the vulnerability of the assets helps to correctly assess the threats and the probability of an incident
- What are the possible effects? – One or a combination of the following effects can occur when the company’s assets are threatened: loss of data, loss of production, legal action, fines and penalties, and negative impact on the company’s reputation.
- Establish controls – First, you’ll review existing controls. Then you may need to implement new IT risk controls or update old ones to adapt to new and changing threats.
- Continual improvement – Document and review the results of an IT risk assessment to better identify and address new threats.
Common IT risks to look out for
During the risk assessment, take the time to thoroughly analyze these hazards. Every organization should be aware of the following:
- Cybersecurity threats: Phishing, ransomware, and malware are frequent issues.
- Data breaches: These happen when unauthorized individuals gain access to confidential or sensitive information.
- Insider threats: Employees or contractors might misuse their access privileges, whether on purpose or accidentally.
- Hardware and software failures: IT systems are vulnerable to failures because of aging hardware or outdated software.
- Network vulnerabilities: Weak network security, including unprotected Wi-Fi, open ports, or lack of encryption, creates entry points for attackers.
- Compliance risks: Non-compliance with legal or regulatory standards can lead to fines, audits, or legal actions.
- Human error: Employee mistakes, such as sending sensitive data to the wrong recipient or misconfiguring systems, are a leading cause of IT incidents.
Best practices for conducting an IT risk assessment
You can make your risk assessments more thorough and impactful by following these best practices:
Use established frameworks
There are already established frameworks like ISO 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, or COBIT that provide systematic approaches to managing IT risks, and they’re widely used. For example, ISO 27001 gives a risk-centric approach to setting up and maintaining an information security management system (ISMS).
By adopting a recognized framework, you can align your risk assessment with global standards. These frameworks are also updated often based on emerging threats so your organization can stay ahead of the curve.
Involve key stakeholders
For an IT risk assessment to be comprehensive, you’ll need to incorporate insights from across the organization. Key stakeholders might include:
- IT administrators
- Department heads
- Compliance officers
- Third-party vendors
This way, you can get diverse perspectives. While IT staff may focus on technical vulnerabilities, operations teams can highlight how system failures could disrupt workflows, and compliance officers can identify legal or regulatory risks.
Create actionable mitigation plans
Identifying risks is only part of the equation-the true value lies in addressing them effectively. To make mitigation plans actionable, you’ll need to list specific steps that are practical, time-bound, and measurable, along with who is responsible for each task.
For example, if you identify a high-priority risk like outdated software, an actionable plan might involve assigning IT staff to install updates within 30 days, and then a review to check for compliance. At the same time, you can’t address every risk all at once, so focus on high-impact, high-probability risks first.
Secure technology that helps with an IT risk assessment checklist
Weak points and new threats regularly occur in IT security. Companies must be proactively searching for the weak points and be aware of new threats if they want to keep up with the constantly emerging dangers. Time-critical risks may require immediate action. A paper-based IT risk assessment checklist is therefore a bad choice for averting threats in time.
In this case, the solution is a digital technology with which you can immediately detect weak points and initiate countermeasures. The following are some of the advantages of Lumiform’s digital solution:
- Generate real-time data via internal processes. This makes quality and security measurable, and you can use the data to optimize processes continuously.
- Create reports automatically and speed up postprocessing.
- Continuous improvement of quality and safety. With the AI form builder, you can constantly optimize internal tests and processes. Since Lumiform guides the examiner through the exam, no training is required.
- Depending on the application, IT risk assessments are carried out about 30%-50% faster.
Start your free trial with Lumiform today and streamline your IT risk assessments with powerful digital tools!