How to assess your company's cybersecurity risk

It finally happened. Temps reached into the 100s in Dallas as Cyber:Secured Forum helped some security professionals stay cool inside The Westin Dallas Park Central while learning actionable takeaways and best practices related to maintaining and improving cybersecurity of security systems and solutions. While I gather my thoughts to bring you a detailed rendition of the past two days, now would be a great time to do a cybersecurity risk assessment on your system.

Here are my “4 Preliminaries” (4Ps) to help you get started on your assessment:

1. Perspective. Make a list of all information stored on your computer, online, in different apps and in the cloud, for example, work documents, apps, music, passwords, pictures, videos of your family, banking and credit card credentials, etc. Physically seeing how much precious data you have should be a wakeup call to protect it against cyber threats and attacks.
2. Passwords. Make a list of all online accounts and their login credentials.
3. Peruse. Look through the list and carefully think about the value of each type of stored data. If it would be detrimental if anyone gained access or a particular piece or data or online account was lost, deleted or leaked online, put a star by it or highlight it.
4. Posture. Take a position of defense against cyberattacks, cybercriminals and cyberthreats. To start, make sure all the passwords on your list are strong to prevent access to your data. Each account needs a DIFFERENT, robust password consisting of at least 12 or more of the following: upper- and lower-case letters, and numbers and symbols in various combinations and locations within the password.

Once you've completed the 4Ps, google the phrase “cybersecurity risk assessment checklist.” This tool is available for free from different organizations and businesses. Choose the checklist that resonates most closely with your business, or take bits and pieces of a variety of checklists to create a custom list. Then, using the information you've already gathered from the 4Ps, get started answering the questions. You'll be well on your way to learning exactly where your company is postured for cybersecurity as well as areas that need improvement.