Kickstart cyber risk quantification with these 3 proven tips

Cyber risk quantification (CRQ) is changing the way organizations think about cybersecurity, offering a clear financial lens through which to view risk. By speaking the language of business — dollars and cents — CRQ enables cybersecurity professionals to present actionable insights that align with enterprise goals. This blog explores some key tips to help you get started.

Ready to evolve your cyber risk management? Download the full ebook, A 3-step guide to cyber risk quantification, for a look at common barriers, the trends behind risk quantification, and strategies for implementing effective CRQ practices.

3 tips for getting started with cyber risk quantification

1. Start Small

Begin risk quantification with your existing resources rather than waiting for ideal timing, conditions, or resources. Delaying the process leaves your IT assets vulnerable and prevents risk-informed decision-making. Leverage your organization's current cyber risk management practices by selecting a single important asset or risk to quantify first. In particular, asset data quantification offers an excellent starting point, as business leaders can more easily assign value to assets like cloud platforms, CRM systems, and customer-facing applications that directly impact business performance metrics. Moreover, existing asset inventories and compliance documentation (from frameworks like ISO 27001, PCI DSS, NIST SP 800-53, or COBIT 5) provide valuable data that eliminate the need to build your CRQ program from scratch. This focused approach makes the process manageable and starts immediately improving your ability to communicate risks to leadership in meaningful terms. For more on getting started with asset data quantification, check out AuditBoard’s guide.

2. Don’t let “perfect” be the eemy

The FAIR model is a highly useful quantitative risk analysis model that represents an excellent framework for businesses to work toward. However, viewing FAIR implementation as a prerequisite to risk quantification creates an unnecessary barrier. This misconception often delays progress, as full FAIR deployment typically requires 12+ months. Risk quantification should instead be viewed as an evolutionary process that builds upon your existing qualitative risk data. Organizations can effectively begin quantifying and managing risks while preparing for FAIR — or even without implementing it at all. Security teams should immediately leverage current assessment data to quantify information security risks, rather than waiting for the “perfect” methodology to be fully deployed. Get comfortable with building your risk program while assessing and evaluating your risks — and don’t let the idea of perfection prevent you from starting.

3. Demystify the data

The language of cyber risk quantification is risk management data. Organizations must investigate where valuable internal data exists and identify these data sets and who owns them. Simple questions you can start with are whether certain data sets are practical, usable, and/or understandable. The types of data sets that guide risk quantification most often include those you can extract a concrete quantity from, such as time spent or cost. Example data sets businesses often use to determine the aggregate cost of a risk or incident include:

• The number of resources involved in a security incident
• The salaries of these resources
• How long an outage lasted
• The cost of an outage to your company
• The cost of a vulnerability
• The cost of ransomware

Don’t forget about external, public data that can be useful, such as the penalties for noncompliance with regulations like GDPR. Even examining major cybersecurity incidents in your industry can be useful for shaping your CRQ.

Final thoughts

Effectively quantifying cyber risks in financial terms is a game-changer for organizations looking to strengthen their cybersecurity posture while aligning with broader business objectives. Although barriers exist, a focused, step-by-step approach leveraging current data, resources, and processes can lay a strong foundation.

Start small, avoid overcomplicating early efforts, and make identifying relevant data a top priority. By doing so, you’ll empower your organization to make smarter, faster decisions concerning cybersecurity investments and risk mitigation.

Want to learn more about launching a successful CRQ program? Download the full ebook, A 3-step guide to cyber risk quantification, and take the first step toward a more resilient, informed approach to managing cyber risks.