Security Risk Assessment

A comprehensive guide about security risk assessment: why organizations need to

perform it, the categories of security control, how to carry out a risk assessment, and
what tool to use when conducting a security risk assessment

Published 25 Jan 2024

Article byJona Tarlengco
|8 min read

What is a Security Risk Assessment?

A security risk assessment is a process that helps organizations identify, analyze, and
implement security controls in the workplace. It prevents vulnerabilities and threats
from infiltrating the organization and protects physical and informational assets from
unauthorized users.

Requirements
A security risk assessment is a continuous process that allows the organization to
monitor and update the current snapshot of threats and risks to which it might be
exposed. It is a requirement for different compliance standards, including the
following:

 Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) – An information security

standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes.
 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001 – An internationally recognized
set of guidelines that focuses on information security and provides a framework for the
Information Security Management System (ISMS).
 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) – a US law that requires the
careful handling of Protected Health Information (PHI) or individually identifiable health
information.

Why Perform a Security Risk Assessment?

Conducting risk assessments for cybersecurity helps prevent potential threats that
could compromise the security of an organization. Security officers should understand
the relationships between security components, including threats, vulnerabilities, and
risks, to secure the organization from physical, socio-economic, and environmental
threats. It further helps an organization to:

 prevent any potential dangers that have the capability, motivation, and intent to exploit
existing vulnerabilities;
 protect valuable and sensitive company data, including personal and financial information
from ransomware and data loss;
 comply with regulatory standards to prevent lawsuits;
 measure the risk ranking for each asset and assess criticality based on how it would affect
business operations; and
 secure the company’s reputation and brand image.
Security Risk Assessment PDF Report Sample | View Template

Examples
Performing risk assessments is a crucial task for security officers. It is a far-reaching
review of anything that could pose a risk to the security of an organization. The
following 3 categories of security controls with examples can help provide a better
understanding of the scope of security in business operations.

1. Management Security Control

Management security or administrative control is the overall design of controls that

provides guidance, rules, and procedures for implementing a security environment. It
safeguards the organization from data corruption and unauthorized access by internal
or external people and protects the company from financial loss, reputational damage,
consumer confidence disintegration, and brand erosion.

Example: The organization identifies a risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data

stored on an internal database server. The management security control team is
responsible for defining who is authorized to access the data.

2. Operational Security Control

Operational security or technical control defines the effectiveness of controls. It

includes access authorities, authentication, and security topologies applied to
applications, networks, and systems.

Example: The organization identifies a risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data

stored on an internal database server. IT teams use operational security control to
prevent and detect unauthorized server login.

IT managers can use a cybersecurity assessment checklist or IT risk assessment

checklist to help identify malicious activities and implement needed measures to
manage threats. It helps validate the consequence, likelihood, and risk rating of
identified vulnerabilities.

3. Physical Security Control

Physical security control is the protection of personnel and hardware from tangible
threats that could physically harm, damage, or disrupt business operations.

Example: The organization identifies a risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data

stored on an internal database server. The organization can apply physical security
controls to restrain visitors and unauthorized personnel to access restricted areas.

Facility security officers (FSO) can use a facility security assessment checklist to
carry out an extensive internal scan of the facility’s infrastructure, vulnerabilities, and
potential threats. It helps assess the building security condition to protect occupants
from the possibility of higher risks.

Create Your Own Security Risk Assessment Checklist

Eliminate manual tasks and streamline your operations.

Get started for FREE

How to Carry Out a Security Risk Assessment

The process for assessing security risks varies depending on the needs of a company.
It relies on the type of business operation, assessment scope, and user requirements.
Generally, it can be conducted with the following steps.

5 Steps to Implement Security Risk Assessment

Step 1: Identify
 Identify the business needs and critical assets of technology infrastructure that may affect
the overall IT and security direction.

Step 2: Review
 Review existing security policies, standards, guidelines, and procedures and diagnose
sensitive data that is created, stored, or transmitted by technology infrastructure assets.

Step 3: Assess
 Assess and analyze assets, threats, and vulnerabilities including their impact, likelihood, and
risk rating.
 Check the physical protection applied to computing equipment, server, and other network
components.
  Conduct technical and procedural review and investigation of network architecture,
protocols, and other components to ensure it is implemented according to security policies.
 Review and assess configuration, implementation, and usage of remote access systems,
servers, firewalls, and other external network connections.
 Check access control systems for authorized users and other authentication policies.
 Check physical assets including access cards for staff and visitors.
 Check the perimeter protection and inspect the operational condition of CCTV cameras and
alarm systems.
 Ensure housekeeping is properly observed.

Step 4: Mitigate
 Review and analyze assessment reports and determine how to effectively allocate time and
resources towards risk mitigation.
 Implement technical actions to address the vulnerabilities identified and reduce the level of
security risk.
 Assign corrective actions and recommendations to appropriate personnel to enforce security
controls for each risk.

Step 5: Prevent
 Conduct regular security assessments, monitor updates, and communicate risk assessment
reports to an authorized person.
 Streamline reporting processes to minimize threats and vulnerabilities from occurring.

Training
Creating a culture of safety in the workplace is more than just a legal requirement or a
box to check. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to build a workplace where
people feel safe, valued, and motivated to do their best work.

Security risk assessment training is a set of informational lessons to help employees

develop skills for identifying, analyzing, and evaluating security risks. It is important
to invest in this type of training to help your organization stay safe in the digital
space, as cybersecurity awareness training can serve as the starting point for
empowering workers with a clearer understanding of security risks. For example, this
free online training course contains the basics of the most common cyber attacks and
how people can protect themselves.

Tool
Technological growth comes with the transformation of security threats. Lawbreakers
discover new mechanisms to break through the most stringent security systems. A
security risk assessment helps protect the organization and building occupants from
possible exposure to threats that can sabotage their assets and expose them to much
higher risks.

Traditionally, risk assessments are performed with the use of pen and paper that is
susceptible to deterioration and loss. It takes a lot of time to hand over assessment
reports, which increases the chances of exposing the organization to security risks.
SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is a mobile inspection app that can help security
officers proactively identify security risks and respond on time to mitigate the risks.

Security Risk Assessment Software

To ensure the effectiveness of security risk evaluations the following SafetyCulture
features can help security officers save time conducting assessments and handover of
security risk reports.

Conduct risk assessments anytime, anywhere on a mobile device

SafetyCulture makes it easy for anyone on the team to conduct inspections and audits
on the go. Whether online or offline SafetyCulture can record assessment results in
real-time that are automatically saved securely in the cloud.

Turn security issues into actions

Create corrective actions on the spot for identified security threats. Set the due date
and priority level, then assign them to the authorized personnel to address and
mitigate security risks immediately.

Review performance and trends

Automatic syncing between mobile devices and desktop platform provide real-time
analytics dashboards on Premium accounts. Get instant visibility on identified
security issues and team productivity.

Performing regular security assessments is vital to keep a protected and up-to-date

security system. Here are other features of SafetyCulture that could help improve risk
assessment performance and monitoring:

 capture unlimited photo evidence, annotate, and add notes to further explain the issue;
 round-the-clock handover of reports even right after conducting the assessment;
 easy to set schedules and notifications to never miss an expected assessment; and
 free use for small security teams and can be upgraded with unlimited reports and storage for
Premium accounts.

SafetyCulture Platform for Teams

Why use SafetyCulture?

Learn More

Performing regular security assessments is vital to keep a protected and up-to-date

security system. Ensure the effectiveness of security risk evaluations with a reliable
mobile-first platform.
✓ Simplify processes with digital checklists
✓ Receive professional reports and share instantly
✓ Use for teams of any size

Streamline your organization’s operations and workflow with our digital checklist. It
empowers you to:

 Maintain safety and compliance standards with customizable templates

 Increase your team’s engagement and accountability including contractors and stakeholders
 Create powerful workflows by integrating your existing software
 Gain greater visibility and transparency with real-time reporting
 Access unlimited storage and data security for your reports

Take advantage of our comprehensive features to optimize your operations and

enhance workplace safety today.