A vulnerability assessment or vulnerability analysis is the process of identifying the security vulnerabilities in your network, systems, and hardware and taking steps to fix those security vulnerabilities. A vulnerability assessment can provide information that your IT and security teams can use to improve your company’s threat mitigation and prevention processes.

Vulnerability Management is the cornerstone of information security programs. Cybersecurity practitioners leverage vulnerability management programs to identify, classify, prioritize, remediate, and mitigate vulnerabilities most often found in software and networks. Vulnerability assessments, while not mutually exclusive with vulnerability management, are generally part of a vulnerability management program in order to identify, quantify, and prioritize vulnerabilities in a system.

A major problem with your information technology (IT) systems can totally disrupt your business, costing you time and money while you wait for repairs. An IT audit checklist helps ensure that your IT department has the necessary tools to secure your network and avoid these expensive repairs.

In casual conversation, threats, vulnerabilities, and risks are often talked about interchangeably. The reality is that the three are quite different. Threats represent something that might happen. Vulnerabilities show that systems have inherent weaknesses attackers may exploit. Risks keep business owners up at night by shining a light on potential harm inherent in running an enterprise.

The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act was signed into law on July 30, 2002. The law drafted by congressmen Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley aimed to improve corporate financial governance and accountability while protecting shareholders from accounting errors and fraudulent activity. The real fuel for the SOX law came from the inappropriate financial conduct of three large companies Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom.

Risk management has become a veritable alphabet soup. The advent of the digital age is partly to blame. Virtually every organization is “going digital,” in a growing number of areas. Retail is now “e-tail”; manufacturing plants are increasingly automated; nearly every step of the hiring and contracting process happens online, from the application process to background checks to payroll and beyond.

The old adage warns “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The saying becomes even more pointed for threats that, unfortunately, do not yet have a cure. But the lessons of risk management offer a path forward, where prevention takes the form of avoiding, mitigating or reducing risks. As people and organizations confront COVID-19, the novel threat has inspired an array of new strategies to combat the pandemic.

A social compliance audit, also known as a social audit, is an effective way to determine if an organization is complying with socially responsible principles. Social compliance refers to how a company protects the health and safety as well as the rights of its employees, the community, and the environment where it operates in addition to the lives and communities of workers in its distribution chain and its supply chain.

Earlier this week, we shared the Reciprocity response to COVID-19. As the seriousness of this pandemic grows, our thoughts are with all of our employees, customers, and partners who are affected. We want to reiterate that our priority is to uphold our commitment to our customers. We know that many of you are concerned about the impact on your business operations, specifically supply chain issues you might be experiencing or anticipating.