A Deep Look into Cyber Risk Quantification

The rapid evolution of data processing  technologies gave rise to an unstoppable surge of technological change, intensely impacting both organizations and individuals. The processing of data into valuable business information was here to stay and was growing at such a pace that entire industries were denatured and morphed. As the cost-effectiveness of processing power increased, organizations soon realized the power that could be unlocked with business intelligence and analytical modeling. Unfortunately, the more valuable the information became the more the interest of malicious actors was piqued. Obtaining access to such information, unfortunately, became a lucrative black-market industry, as it would have been precious metals or contraband.

Cybersecurity is the guarding and protection against unlawful access to proprietary electronic data. Organizations need to do everything in their power to protect their information and that of their clients from malicious actors. Therefore, the industry of cybersecurity has grown rapidly over the last few decades. It is characteristic of today’s cyber threats mutate because malicious actors find new ways of circumventing existing security protocols and policies on an almost daily basis. To stay ahead of the curve organizations have started a proactive habit of preemptively quantifying cyber risk factors in their business. Some organizations make use of cyber risk quantification platforms that can automate this analytical process. This allows businesses to utilize top-tier insights without having the actual in-house skills. 

What exactly are these analytic models and their underlying techniques?

Quantification of cybersecurity risk is a valuable process utilized by organizations to assist them in evaluating and understanding the nature of the primary cybersecurity risks they might be facing.  Using this quantified data, members of the board can make informed business decisions to safeguard their business and industry. Essentially the key objective of this process is to have the power to prioritize cybersecurity issues, knowing where more budget needs to be allocated to ensure the best return on investment. All risks, when identified, are assigned a potential loss value as well as a probability score, which determines the likelihood and financial impact.

At first, you might ask: “Is there a real return on investment here?” or “Would there be any benefits for my business by implementing cybersecurity quantification?”. The simple answer is, yes.

First and foremost, cybersecurity quantification allows business executives and technology engineers to get on the same page. Comparing apples with apples, so to speak. It allows those who understand business and the day-to-day financial risks of running and growing a business to understand the technical realm of cyber security. Since the board of directors is ultimately responsible for the success of the business and the efficient curation of investor funds, they need to understand the impact and weight of every dimension of their business. This allows business leaders to have increased visibility into the most urgent security matters that need executive resolution and execution.

Secondly, having a clear vision of the way forward promotes collaboration amongst technical teams and employees. Applying human resources where it is needed most, as opposed to spreading the workforce too thinly trying to cover areas that are not mission-critical.

Knowing what the shortcomings are concerning cybersecurity, security professionals can design and publish organization-specific policies and procedures. Ultimately aiding the organization in maintaining a healthy level of regulatory compliance.

When everyone is on the same page, communication throughout the organization, that relates to the defined cybersecurity outcomes, becomes easier and more effective.

Since the dimension of cyber security has taken most of the center stage in modern global enterprises, organizations need to investigate the future to anticipate risks that might present themselves even though the technology might not exist yet.

Quantum computing is one of those young technologies that might be available to organizations soon. The mainstream introduction of this computing technology will most definitely spark enormous controversies and challenges relating to the traditional take on cybersecurity. Organizations must realize today that waiting for tomorrow to apply cybersecurity quantification in their business environment might be too late. 

Quantum computers are 100 million times faster than our current technology. Taking a cybersecurity staple we are all familiar with and predicting what its relevance will be in the future might illustrate the point. Using brute force to break a 128bit encryption key requires 1 billion years. With quantum computing, that figure comes down to just 10 years. Organizations need to quantify cybersecurity risks today to allow them to prepare them for current threats as well as those coming with the new age of computing.