Five Things You Should Know About IT Risk Assessment

Every organization faces data security threats. Hackers get smarter, attacks become more common, and security budgets stay tight. You can't protect everything equally, so you need to identify your biggest weaknesses and address them first.

That's what IT risk assessment does. It helps you identify, assess, and prioritize data security risks so you can focus your time and budget where they matter most.

Here are five things worth knowing about it.
At the higher education institute where I work, we created a thoughtful exercise using a simple Excel spreadsheet to outline every area or department that meets twice a year to self-evaluate their risks and the likelihood of impact. If you are interested, take a look at the sample sheet that you can download for your organization to 

1. Risk assessment tells you where to focus your security efforts

Risk assessment and risk management sound similar, but they're different. Risk management is about controlling specific problems. Risk assessment is the bigger picture work of understanding all the threats you face, both inside and outside your organization.

Think of it this way: risk assessment helps you see the full map of dangers. Risk management is what you do about each one.

A good risk assessment might reveal misconfigured user permissions, forgotten active accounts, or admin rights that have become out of control. Once you know about these problems, you can fix them before someone exploits them.

2. Many regulations require it

If your organization must comply with regulations such as HIPAA or GDPR, you likely need to conduct risk assessments. These regulations don't tell you exactly how to protect your systems, but they do require you to have security controls in place and be able to prove it.

Skipping risk assessment doesn't just leave you vulnerable to attacks. It can also lead to failed audits and expensive fines.

3. Frameworks make it easier to get started

You don't have to invent your own approach. Several well-tested frameworks exist that tell you what to look at, who should be involved, how to analyze what you find, and what to document.

Three popular options are OCTAVE (created by Carnegie Mellon University), NIST SP 800-30, and ISO/IEC 27001:2013. Pick one that fits your organization's size and needs, then adapt it as necessary.

All of these frameworks expect you to document your process. This creates a paper trail showing you're taking security seriously.

4. You have to keep doing it

Risk assessment isn't something you do once and forget about. Your IT environment changes constantly. New software gets installed, employees come and go, and attackers find new tricks.

A risk assessment from two years ago won't catch the inactive account someone forgot to disable last month or the permissions that have gradually gotten out of hand.

Make risk assessment a regular habit, not a one-time project.

5. The process has three basic steps

Risk assessment breaks down into three parts:

Find the risks. Look for weaknesses in your systems. Users may have more access than they need, your password policies may be too weak, or old accounts are still active.

Estimate how likely each risk is. Not every weakness will actually cause a problem. Consider how probable it is that someone could exploit each vulnerability you found.

Decide what to tackle first. Combine likelihood with potential damage. A risk that's both likely and would cause severe harm warrants immediate attention. Something unlikely and minor can wait.

The Bottom Line

Threats don't stand still, and neither should your security planning. Regular risk assessment keeps your defenses aligned with current risks rather than yesterday's problems.

If your last assessment is collecting dust, your security strategy needs an update too.