The rapid pace of technological progress has let companies around the world benefit from operational improvements that lower costs. This progress, however, also brings risks that companies must take into account to protect their stakeholders. Cyber-threats are executed by cybercriminals using various means to gain access to an organization’s digital infrastructure.

Strong, reliable internal controls are an indispensable element of risk management. Properly functioning controls help to identify risks that could cause suffering, damage, harm, or other losses to your organization. To implement those controls, organizations typically use a control framework to guide their efforts.

While business partnerships require trust, security requires verification. In a world where business relies on data security, vendor risk management is mission-critical to financial success. Organizations rely on vendor security assessment questionnaires as part of their due diligence processes. However, manual questionnaire processes are burdensome and time-consuming, so many organizations are turning to automation to reduce operational costs.

No matter how careful you are with your data storage and data protection measures, the risk of data loss is always there. You need to be sure that your company is prepared in the event of cyber attacks or system failures. Hence the need for data backup is so important; a company must have a copy of lost data for swift disaster recovery after a crisis. Too many organizations, however, overlook the possibility that their data backups might also fail.

In a blog post published in February 2021, Microsoft noted that web shell attacks had been steadily increasing since mid-2020. There were 140,000 monthly web shell attacks from August 2020 to January 2021, more than twice the average from 2020. The increasing prevalence of these attacks has a simple reason: web shell attacks are easy to author and launch. So, what are web shell attacks? Why should organizations be more aware of them?

Every business has a set of rules and regulations that it must uphold. To maintain compliance, businesses must adhere to the regulations and laws specific to their industry. The problem is, these regulations are constantly changing, and failure to stay up-to-date can lead to serious financial strains and damage to company reputation. Let’s explore how effective compliance management can ensure the continuity and security of your organization.

Reciprocity® Risk Intellect is a new risk-analysis tool that, when used with the Reciprocity ZenGRC® platform, provides insight on the impact your compliance programs have on your cyber risk posture. By mapping your current compliance control assessments to cyber risks, it provides immediate context and visibility into which cyber risks and controls offer the greatest opportunity for reducing risk.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reinventing the trajectory of cybersecurity and fighting with a double-edged sword. If harnessed correctly, AI can automatically generate alerts for emerging threats, detect new types of malware, and protect sensitive data. While it has advanced us into a plethora of new technologies -- think Siri, facial recognition, and Google’s search engine -- it has also probed us with significant threats from cybercriminals.

In this blog post, ProcessUnity, the leading provider of Vendor Risk Management software and Cybersecurity Program Management software, covers key strategies for addressing third-party cyber risk. Modern cybersecurity programs need to evolve rapidly to navigate new challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and high-profile cyber attacks.

Risks are a part of everyday life. No matter what decision we take, we always weigh the pros and cons. This core element of our daily lives is risk assessment. When it comes to cybersecurity, risks are omnipresent. Whether it is a bank dealing with financial transactions or medical providers handling the personal data of patients, cybersecurity threats are unavoidable. The only way to efficiently combat these threats is to understand them.