Last week one of the country’s top banking regulators published its semi-annual report on risks to the financial system, and to no surprise cybersecurity risk was near the top. The more one ponders the findings, however, the more you can see insights about cybersecurity, internal control, and innovation that are worth the time of a compliance professional in any sector.

A digital security risk is any action or event that could cause loss of or damage to computer software, hardware, data, processing capability, or information. Digital risk management is an organization’s effort to keep such risks at acceptable levels. It’s crucial to understand that a risk is not the same as vulnerability. A risk is any event that could lead to an undesired outcome or loss. A vulnerability, on the other hand, is a weakness that can be exploited.

Cyber threats are everywhere, regardless of your organization’s size or industry. Businesses today must adopt a systematic, disciplined cybersecurity plan to secure vital infrastructure and information systems — that is, a cybersecurity framework. Cybersecurity risk management encompasses identifying, analyzing, assessing, and addressing cybersecurity threats to your organization. In this sense, the first part of any cyber risk management program is a cybersecurity risk assessment.

Risk is inescapable. However careful your company might be, it cannot experience growth without accepting a certain amount of risk. The key to a successful risk management program is to prepare for risk as thoroughly and efficiently as possible. This includes regular risk assessments to understand which risks should be prioritized and how best to prevent any potential losses.

With every passing day, businesses become more entwined in an ecosystem of partners, vendors, and suppliers in global markets. A local natural disaster, for example, can have far-reaching consequences throughout a global supply chain; so controlling, recognizing, and mitigating risks is critical to a company’s business continuity and financial stability.

E-commerce is a huge commercial realm, with some 2.14 billion digital buyers worldwide by the end of 2021. At the heart of e-commerce is the ability to keep payment card data secure during online transactions, and at the heart of payment card security is PCI compliance. Technically PCI compliance is not required by law, but it has been considered mandatory in court rulings, and credit card companies require it for merchants to process online transactions.

The modern enterprise network is a complex, highly connected ecosystem of hardware, software, services, communication protocols, virtual resources, and people; who all work together to support business operations. IT networks are now the backbones of organizations everywhere, so cyberattacks aimed at breaking down network security are a huge threat for companies and stakeholders.

With the sharp increase in remote working worldwide, companies have endured a proliferation of cybersecurity risks — and, consequently, increased their spending to protect stakeholders. One factor that influences the level of corporate cybersecurity, and your effectiveness in mitigating cybersecurity threats, is the proper deployment of reactive and proactive cybersecurity measures.

Key risk indicators are important for every business. And while “KRIs” vary from one industry to the next — for example, what’s important for agribusiness is different from what’s important for pharmaceutical firms — no matter what the KRIs look like, they’re all instrumental for managing operational risk. Think of a key risk indicator as a pressure gauge measuring the amount of some risk your company has.

According to recent research, 92 percent of large organizations use more than one cloud. The report also predicts that by the end of 2021, 55 percent of enterprise workloads will rely on a public cloud. Clearly cloud adoption is expanding, and will continue to do so into the future. Despite its prevalence, cloud computing can be a confusing concept.

Before this particular bit of news sails downstream, internal control professionals might want to note that an SEC commissioner spoke this week about the importance of internal controls for cybersecurity. She raised a few points worth considering. The remarks came from Caroline Crenshaw, a Democratic appointee to the Securities and Exchange Commission who, in my opinion, is something of a stalking horse for SEC policy.

NIST is the abbreviated name of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It’s one of many federal agencies under the U.S. Department of Commerce, and is one of the oldest physical science laboratories in the United States. The agency develops technology and security policies that help drive innovation in science and technology-related industries; and better prepares those industries to meet the requirements of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).