What is a Vulnerability Assessment, and why do SMEs need them?
What is a Vulnerability Assessment?:
A Vulnerability Assessment is a systematic review of your systems, networks, and applications to identify potential security weaknesses. It helps uncover vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by malicious actors.
A VA uses automated and manual tools and techniques to scan your asset for weaknesses.
Key Aspects of a VA:
Identification of weaknesses
Risk prioritisation
Documentation and Reporting
Complying with regulations and best practises
Remediating weaknesses and maintaining Cyber-Security.
Vulnerability Assessments are essential for proactively identifying and addressing security weaknesses in your infrastructure. They help prevent data breaches, downtime, financial losses, and protect your organisation’s reputation.
It's hard to know if or when you should introduce Vulnerability Assessments into your companies Cyber Security Strategy. Here's some scenarios where a Vulnerability Assessment is necessary for you and your business:
If you want to protect what you’ve worked hard to build.
If you don’t have time to prioritise the Cyber Security of your business.
If you want to impress existing stakeholders and clients by going one step further to protect their information.
If you want to gain a competitive advantage over competitors and create a new USP.
If you’re looking to grow your business sustainably, without costly hiccups along the way.
If you rely on IT employees to give up day-to-day tasks to analyse your security posture.
If you’re concerned about your companies (and even your own) reputation.
If you’re looking to mitigate unneccessary risks.
If you are acquiring new softwares and increasing your reliance on your technology.
If you’re seeking peace of mind.
If you don’t want to pay thousands for Cyber Security softwares/employees.
No one knows if or when you could get hacked. All we know is, the chances are always increasing. (see https://explodingtopics.com/blog/cybersecurity-stats for the stats.)
Similarly, no one knows if or when you’ll be burgled. But you wouldn’t put a lock on your door without checking it it worked, right?
The point is, regardless of whether or not you think it will ever happen to you, you never know for certain.
All we can do is be proactive instead of reactive, especially when considering Cyber Security for a business. Let this put things into perspective:
If your company were a victim of a Ransomware Attack, the average downtime would be 22 days [as per. PenTestPeople].
Assuming your work week is 5 days, this would mean your business operates 252 days of the year.
If your company does £5M in revenue, this would mean that the average revenue per day is £19,841.27 (£5M/252). If we multiply this by the average downtime, the cost works out to be £436,507.94. Almost 10% of your yearly revenue!
This would all be the result of not being proactive! All because you thought it would never happen to you...
If you were proactive, you could:
Prevent a hack all together
Put a plan in place incase an attack occurred to reduce damage.
When considering whether to implement Vulnerability Assessments into your companies Cyber Security Strategy, it's important to understand the options you have and their trade-offs:
Choose not to implement VAs: Be without the peace of mind that your business is protected, depend on reactive remediations (incurring costs and potential disruptions), risk potential security breaches (leading to financial losses and reputation damage).
Employ a Cyber Security Specialist: Incur the ongoing costs of a full-time employee (including salary and benefits), ensure continuous oversight of Cyber Security practices within the organisation, may require additional investments in tools, training, and infrastructure.
Get a Free Vulnerability Assessment from a Cyber Security company: Become more Cyber Secure for free, no risk, no obligations, experience the value of VAs without the cost, ensure your existing Defensive Cyber Security works, begin a partnership which could save your firm thousands.
Next Steps:
If you're interested in getting a Free Vulnerability Assessment for your business, click here and we'll send you a document with more details and the next steps.
If you want a Free VA ASAP, click below to schedule a Discovery Call.
You cannot manage what you do not measure...Similarly, you cannot protect what you do not know.
CHMS Blog Bonus:
Common Cyber issues SMEs face when trying to become cyber-secure
&
Industry best-practises to improve Cyber Security.
*by reading our blog posts through our website as opposed to LinkedIn, you’ll receive bonus content at the end of every post.
Common Cyber Security issues SMEs face when trying to become cyber-secure
1. Direct staff lack the knowledge, skills, experience or time to assess and fix security issues:
Many IT staff are not trained in Cyber Security, and are simply not paid to focus on Cyber Security issues.
Senior Cyber Security specialists cost £80,000+ a year and don’t want to work on IT as well as Cyber Security (meaning you can’t combine job roles to save costs).
2. Decision makers don’t implement Cyber Security testing until they’ve already been hacked, when the damage is already done:
Decision makers might perceive Cyber Security testing as an additional cost burden, leading them to postpone or overlook these measures until they experience a security incident. The misconception that Cyber Security isn’t necessary can delay proactive investment in preventive measures.
Decision makers in SMEs may lack sufficient awareness about the evolving landscape of cyber threats. Without a clear understanding of the potential risks and consequences, they may not prioritise proactive Cyber Security measures until a breach occurs.
Industry best-practises to improve Cyber Security
We’ve learnt that SMEs can quickly improve their Cyber Security posture by assessing a handful of their digital assets and by introducing a few industry practises, such as:
encouraging a culture around information security,
teaching employees about phishing emails,
& keeping passwords confidential.
Thank you for reading this Article! If you found it useful, you'll likely find our other posts useful too.
