Description

Hazard identification and risk assessment is a systematic and structured approach in information technology. It depends on the appropriate identification of security threats and a correct assessment of threats occurring from them. There are differences in the methodology used to conduct hazard identification and risk assessment. And each methodology allows an organization to view the network and application portfolio holistically - from an attacker's point of view. A proper risk assessment strategy enables managers to make informed resource allocation, security control and tooling implementation decisions. Therefore, conducting a hazard identification and risk assessment are integral parts of an organization's risk management process.

How Does Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Works?

Factors such as asset portfolio, resources, growth rate, and size affect the depth of hazard identification and assessment. Most importantly, organizations can conduct generalized assessments when facing time constraints or budget issues. Nevertheless, generalized risk assessment won't necessarily provide a detailed mapping between the organizational assets, identified risks, associated threats, mitigating controls, and impact.

Experts suggest that if generalized hazard identification and risk assessment don't provide enough of a correlation between these aspects, then an in-depth assessment and review is required.

This is where the different methodologies of risk assessment and identification come into play.

The 4 Methodologies of a Successful Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Work?

#1 Identification

The first step of risk assessment is to identify all the critical aspects of the technology infrastructure. This helps in the easy diagnosis of sensitive data that is created, transmitted, or stored by these assets. Experts suggest creating a risk profile for each because it will help determine each asset's vulnerability.

#2 Assessment

Next is the assessment phase, where you have to administer an appropriate strategy for assessing the identified security hazards for critical organizational assets. Once they are carefully evaluated and assessed, create a plan to efficiently and effectively allocate resources and time towards risk mitigation. Please note that your organization's assessment approach must analyze the correlation between threats, vulnerabilities, assets, and mitigating controls.

#3 Mitigation

In the next step, you need to define a mitigation strategy and administer security control for each risk.

#4 Prevention

Finally, enforce tools and processes to reduce hazards and susceptibilities from happening in your organization's resources.

Comprehensive hazard identification and risk assessment allow your organization to measure the risk ranking for assets, identify assets, understand what data is stored, and apply mitigation strategies.