Risk Management Strategies - CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 - 5.2

Summary

The script outlines various risk management strategies employed by organizations, including risk transfer through cybersecurity insurance, risk acceptance with policy exemptions or exceptions, risk avoidance, and risk mitigation via investments like next-generation firewalls. It emphasizes the importance of risk reporting, a dynamic document that lists and describes tracked risks, guiding management in making informed business decisions.

Takeaways

• 🔄 **Risk Transfer**: Organizations can transfer risk by moving it under the control of a different party, like purchasing cybersecurity insurance.
• 🛑 **Risk Acceptance**: Companies may choose to accept risks, allowing them to decide how to handle the risk, which is a common approach.
• 🚫 **Policy Exemptions**: Risk acceptance can involve exempting certain policies, such as not patching a device that cannot be updated but is not connected to the network.
• 🛠 **Policy Exceptions**: Organizations may create exceptions to security policies, like delaying patching if it causes critical software to crash.
• 🚫 **Risk Avoidance**: A strategy to completely avoid risk by removing it from the organization, eliminating the need for additional risk management.
• 🛡 **Risk Mitigation**: Investing in solutions like next-generation firewalls to reduce the impact of certain risks, such as those from the internet.
• 📋 **Risk Reporting**: Tracking risks through reports that list all risks, their descriptions, and handling strategies, often referenced by upper management.
• 🔄 **Continuous Updates**: Risk reports are usually constantly updated to include critical and emerging risks for consideration in business decisions.
• 🔑 **Management Involvement**: Upper management, especially those making business decisions, rely on risk reports for information on what to purchase and how to handle risks.
• 📈 **Business Decision Impact**: Risk reports play a crucial role in informing business decisions, particularly on risk management strategies and investments.
• 🗂 **Documented Risks**: The script emphasizes the importance of documenting all risks and their management strategies for organizational awareness and decision-making.

Q & A

What is one strategy an organization might use to deal with risk?

One strategy is to transfer the risk, which involves moving the risk under the control of a different party, such as through the purchase of cybersecurity insurance.

What does it mean for a company to accept the risk?

Accepting the risk means the company decides to keep the risk and determine how to handle it, which is a common course of action.

Can you provide an example of when a company might accept the risk by exempting their existing policies?

An example is when a company has a policy that every device must receive patches, but they have a piece of equipment that the manufacturer does not support patching or updating, leading to an exemption for that device.

What is an exemption in the context of risk management?

An exemption is an exception to the standard security policy, granted under specific circumstances, such as when a device cannot be patched due to manufacturer restrictions.

How might a company handle a conflict between required patching timeframes and operational issues?

The company can create an exception to the policy, allowing more time to update their software to work better with the patches, thus resolving the conflict.

What is another risk management strategy besides transferring or accepting the risk?

Another strategy is to completely avoid the risk by removing the source of the risk from the organization.

Can you give an example of risk mitigation?

An example of risk mitigation is investing in a next-generation firewall to reduce the issues associated with internet connectivity.

How can an organization track multiple risks?

An organization can track risks through risk reporting, which lists all the risks being tracked, describes each risk, and outlines how to handle them.

Who typically references the risk report in an organization?

Upper management, especially those who need to make business decisions on purchases and risk handling, commonly reference the risk report.

What kind of information does a risk report usually contain?

A risk report usually contains a list of all tracked risks, descriptions of each risk, how to handle them, and often includes critical and emerging risks that should be considered by management.

How frequently is a risk report updated?

A risk report is usually a document that is constantly updated to reflect the current state of risks and any new developments.