9 Ways Cybersecurity Asset Management Improves Risk Management

Cybersecurity asset management (CSAM) is the practice of identifying, tracking, and managing an organization's digital assets, such as computers, servers, software, and network devices, whether located in the cloud or on-premises. It involves creating a comprehensive inventory of these assets, monitoring their configurations, and ensuring they are up-to-date and secure. The asset inventory also enables organizations to identify which assets are connected to their critical business functions (CBFs). CBFs are the core activities that keep an organization running smoothly and generate revenue. Knowing which assets are connected to CBFs allows you to prioritize and focus your resources. This helps organizations assess and reduce cybersecurity risks and enhance incident response. 

Cybersecurity risk management is the systematic process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential security threats and vulnerabilities within an organization's digital environment. It involves understanding the value of digital assets, evaluating the likelihood and impact of various threats, and implementing measures to reduce risks to an acceptable level. Because of this, CSAM plays a critical role in improving risk management. Proper asset management helps your organization identify, protect, and monitor your digital assets in the following ways.

Risk Assessment

A comprehensive asset management inventory ensures that you can perform a thorough risk assessment. You can categorize assets based on their criticality and sensitivity by evaluating the CBFs those assets enable and how they are interdependent with other critical assets. This allows you to prioritize security measures and allocate resources effectively. By identifying vulnerabilities and threats associated with specific assets, you can implement targeted mitigation strategies.

Regulatory Compliance

Asset management creates a comprehensive inventory of all digital assets, including hardware, software, data, and network components. This knowledge is fundamental for you to understand what needs protection and monitoring, and is also a requirement for various compliance standards, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the New York State Department of Financial Services’ (NYDFS) recently updated cybersecurity regulations. Accurate, real-time asset tracking and management make it easier for you to demonstrate compliance and provide auditors with the necessary documentation.

Access Control

Compliance standards often require strict access control measures to protect against unauthorized access and data breaches. Effective asset management supports access control and identity management. By knowing which assets are connected to which critical functions it helps you ensure that only authorized personnel can access critical assets and sensitive data. 

Vulnerability Management

Regular vulnerability assessments are often mandated by regulations. Asset management allows you to be more strategic with your vulnerability management program. By accurately knowing which assets exist in your organization’s environment you can proactively scan for vulnerabilities, apply patches, and mitigate risks before they are exploited. Additionally, you can prioritize which assets to focus on first based on their connection to CBFs, allowing you to strategically use scarce resources.

Incident Response

In the event of a security incident, a continuously updated asset inventory helps your organization respond effectively. You can quickly identify compromised assets as well as identify interdependent assets that may also have been impacted. This allows you to more quickly contain the breach and mitigate the impact. This is crucial for minimizing financial and reputational damage.

Change Management

Organizations frequently update and change their digital assets. Asset management helps track these changes automatically, ensuring that security controls are consistently applied to new assets or updated configurations. This is vital for risk management, as any changes can introduce new risks.

Monitoring and Detection

Asset management facilitates continuous monitoring. Knowing what assets you have and how they are interconnected with each other and with CBFs, allows your organization to set up effective monitoring and detection mechanisms to identify any suspicious activities related to an organization’s assets. The timely detection of anomalies is crucial for preventing data breaches and ensuring compliance with regulations that require monitoring.

Auditing and Reporting

Asset management supports robust auditing and reporting capabilities. This is crucial for demonstrating compliance with regulators and stakeholders, as well as for conducting internal assessments of security measures.

Data Protection

Knowing where sensitive data resides is vital for data protection. Cybersecurity asset management helps organizations identify data storage locations and apply encryption, access controls, and other data protection measures, as required by regulations.

In summary, effective cybersecurity asset management is a foundational practice for organizations looking to manage risks and maintain compliance. It provides the necessary visibility, control, and documentation needed to protect sensitive data and meet stringent regulatory requirements. The goal of cybersecurity asset management is to protect sensitive data and critical systems while maintaining business operations and ensuring effective cybersecurity risk management. This helps organizations proactively safeguard their information and technology infrastructure from cyberattacks and data breaches, ensuring business continuity and compliance with security standards.

A Comprehensive Cybersecurity Asset Management Platform

Tackling cybersecurity risk management requires a comprehensive cybersecurity asset management strategy. It requires an AI engine capable of not only giving you complete visibility into your connected infrastructure but also mapping how those assets connect to each other and to your critical business functions. 

It requires the Redjack platform.

Redjack has a significant impact on the effectiveness of both IT and business, making cybersecurity asset management a valuable asset. Contact us to learn how Redjack has helped some of the world's largest corporations and government agencies improve their cybersecurity asset management.