Managing risk with a cyber security analysis
Cyber security analysis is an indispensable tool for managing security performance and third-party risk. IT environments today are constantly expanding to encompass cloud services, BYOD devices, and an increasingly hybrid workforce. This evolution of the traditional IT environment offers unprecedented opportunities for forward-thinking organizations, but it introduces many new risks as well. A growing digital footprint inevitably means a larger attack surface, making it harder for security teams to manage risk and mitigate threats.
A superior cyber security analysis enables security leaders to mitigate risk by providing greater visibility into an organization’s security performance and the security posture of third-party vendors. With solutions that enable continuous monitoring, security teams respond more quickly to an evolving threat landscape and shifting levels of risk.
Bitsight provides cyber security analysis solutions that enable risk and security teams to make better, faster decisions about cyber risk within their organization and their supply chain.
The essentials of cyber security analysis
When performing a cyber security analysis, security teams better prioritize resources and address security risks when they know which metrics have the greatest correlation to breach.
A 2022 study by the Marsh McLennan Cyber Risk Analytics Center concluded that poor performance in several areas significantly increases an organization’s risk of experiencing a cyber security event, while solid performance implies a lower risk of incident. These areas include metrics such as:
- Patching cadence – how diligently an organization applies patches that remediate software vulnerabilities.
- Desktop software – whether browser and operating system versions are kept up-to-date across all devices.
- Potentially exploited systems – the number of devices running malicious software or unwanted programs.
- Mobile software – whether the software on cell phones and tablets is updated.
- Botnet infections – the number of devices observed serving as bots or participating in botnets.
- Insecure systems – the number of endpoints communicating with an unintended destination.
- User behavior – how often employees engage in potentially risky behavior such as sharing files over peer-to-peer networks.
- TLS/SSL configurations – whether security encryption software is correctly configured and utilizes robust encryption protocols.
- Open ports – which port numbers and services are exposed to the internet.
- Spam propagation – whether an organization is infected with malware that sends spam.
In addition to these specific metrics, the study found that security and risk teams can rely on Bitsight Security Ratings as an overall measurement of an organization’s cyber security performance.
Bitsight Ratings enable cyber security analysis
Bitsight is trusted by the world’s largest organizations to achieve digital resilience by gaining greater visibility into their security performance and the security posture of third-party vendors.
Bitsight Security Ratings are generated from objective, verifiable information about a company’s security performance. Bitsight’s daily ratings provide a data-driven, dynamic, quantitative measurement of an organization’s overall security posture as well as specifics about individual risk vectors such as those identified by Marsh McLennan.
Bitsight draws data from over 100 sources to illuminate 23 key risk vectors – twice as many as competing security rating organizations. Bitsight also provides the most accurate network assets map and manages the largest botnet sinkholing infrastructure, providing deeper visibility into compromised systems. With Bitsight, organizations can also access 12 months of historical data to identify trends and understand risk more easily.
Because Bitsight Security Ratings are updated daily, they support cyber security analysis and continuous monitoring with near real-time data. A Bitsight study, independently verified by Air Worldwide and IHS Markit, verified that Bitsight Security Ratings correlate with the risk of a data breach. According to the study’s findings, for example, companies with a Bitsight rating of 500 or lower are nearly 5 times more likely to experience a breach than those with a rating of 700 or more.
