When was the last time you heard from a ๐๐๐ that his company doesnโt have any online presence?
Never, isn’t that so? Because today everyone is present on one digital platform or another which is why it has become a necessity for businesses. Companies are relied on their digital transformation strategies to compete with their competitors.
To oversee and work online safely, implementation of IT Risk Management is important.
IT Risk Management comprises policies, procedures, and strategies that companies use to eliminate the dangers of malevolent activities resulting in their smooth functioning.
In this article, we talk about how IT Risk Management is protecting organizations from information penetration, framework malware, and limits human mistakes.
What is a Risk?
Risk can be defined as a possibility of a loss or injury. Organizations are often at potential risk of data breaching, technology malfunctions, viruses, and cyberattacks.
To manage and eliminate such threats, the Risk Management procedure is followed by the companies.
IT Risk Management
It comprises the strategies, systems, and innovations that an organization uses to moderate dangers from malevolent websites and diminishes data innovation weaknesses that adversely influence information privacy, trustworthiness, and accessibility.
For Example – Viruses, hardware/software failure, spam, password thefts, etc.
Importance of IT Risk Management
- IT protects organizations from potential hackers by integrating risk management solutions.
- Eliminating the threats secures the employees’ jobs and clients’ information.
- Budget Management helps in solving the financial crisis of a firm. IT consultants make the job easier by providing a roadmap to save costs & time resulting in high revenues.
- IT improves communication within an organization by setting expectations and relating data to the company’s growth.
- IT optimizes resources and ensures correct configuration in the company’s performance.
- IT makes sure the systems are updated regularly and ensures rapid recovery from any malware attack.
The Process
Figure 1: Risk Management Process
- Risk Identification: It involves the procedure of identifying & highlighting the risks a business is facing.
- Risk Analysis: Studying the seriousness of the risk and categorizing them with serious, moderate, and minor tags.
- Risk Evaluation: Making a roadmap on how to tackle the risks pinpointed in the early stages.
- Risk Mitigation: It is the action that a business owner and the employees take to eliminate the risks by executing the blueprint.
- Risk Monitoring: Risks are dynamic, and monitoring them helps businesses to work without eruptions.
Best Practises to implement IT Risk Management
- IT Asset Management: Monitoring the functioning of software and hardware, routers & servers, and tracking their update & expiration dates help in tackling the risks efficiently.
- Strengthening Risk Management: Companies should regularly change their passwords and delete any unnecessary downloads to eliminate the possibility of a cyberattack.
- Securing Networks: Organizations should maintain a secure IT infrastructure to prevent the loss the data. This includes security policies, protocols, and the use of reliable anti-viruses. They need to make sure the payment gateway is end-to-end encrypted and the IP address is not trackable.
- Effective Communication: Companies need to be transparent with their employees regarding the instructions to manage the threats. Only authorized users can access a particular software and a compliance report regarding the same should be maintained by them.
Summary
IT Risk Management is essential for any business. It helps in maintaining the goodwill of an enterprise, better customer service, and a healthier working environment.
- Risks are not static, they need to be monitored closely.
- There are 5 steps in the risk management process.
- RM helps in achieving the organization’s objectives efficiently.
- RM protects companies from potential losses & increases the productivity of the employees.
- Companies should keep a record of the expiration of various software licenses to avoid the possibility of cyberattacks.
ย