Internal controls are the processes, procedures, tasks, and activities meant to protect an organization from fraud, financial information misreporting, cybercrime, and accidental losses. A strong internal control system is also vital to maintain compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Internal controls do, however, have one nagging weakness: management override of those controls.

Vendor security questionnaires are frustrating, both to the organizations sending them and the vendors receiving them. While these frustrations remain unaddressed, they will only continue to impede the efficiency of vendor risk management programs. Fortunately, suffering through security assessments isn’t an unavoidable by-product of a Vendor Risk Management program. With the correct strategies, you can streamline the entire assessment questionnaire lifecycle. Read on to learn how.

According to a Gartner report, 60 percent of organizations work with more than 1,000 third parties that connect to their internal systems, and nearly 58 percent of organizations believe they have incurred a vendor-related breach. Many third parties require more access to organization data assets and are increasingly working with their own third parties, further multiplying the size and complexity of the third-party network.

The concept of storing sensitive data in the cloud was once seen as ludicrous. Now, businesses are moving into cloud security at an exponential rate with the promise of larger storage space, lower costs, and improved performance. However, with such great benefits come severe risks.

Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is a broad organizational strategy that aims to align an entire organization’s focus on the achievement of business objectives, the management of business risks, and regulatory compliance. A solid foundational framework enables your organization to continue strengthening and refining its GRC strategy over time. It ensures each department’s objectives align with the business as a whole.

In Spring 2022, Lincoln College announced that it would permanently close on May 13 and noted that a December 2021 ransomware attack had contributed to its closure.

Ask any security professional how to effectively measure risk and many will give a simple answer…

Let’s talk about vendor security reviews. If you felt some form of unpleasant emotion just reading the phrase “vendor security review,” I understand. You and I are not so different. You have likely participated in completing at least one vendor security review in your career. During the process you may have questioned humanity, your career choice or at least whether or not your company should be doing business with the procuring organization.

While BYOD provides flexibility to employees and organisations, it also presents a number of risks. In this blog post, we discuss the issues created by the use of BYOD and outline the elements of an effective checklist.

When most people think about the origin of a cyberattack, the image is that of a hacker using some kind of exploit against software or hardware in order to gain unauthorized access to systems. The hacker is seeking data to exfiltrate and monetize, either through re-sale on the darknet or extortion through ransomware.