However, determining risk can also be a complicated task as well, due to the limited resources and a constantly changing threat landscape. Because of this, IT security experts must have a toolset to help them in creating a comprehensive view with regards to the potential impact of different IT security related threats and attacks. This toolset should be reliable, and cost-effective. Risk management is not a new concept in today’s technological world. Therefore, there are many devices and techniques that are available for overseeing organizational risks. There are even various tools and techniques which emphasize on overseeing risks to information frameworks.
Right Tool is the Key Towards Effective Risk Assessment:
There are amazing tools out there, but it is essential to be realistic — requesting management to allocate a specific budget for risk management tools when they are as of now immersed with more urgent needs and requests can make for a tough sell. When this happens, there are specific alternatives:
Do nothing; Attempt to manage with what is given now; Alternatively, get creative and inventive. In this regard, various free and open-source devices can help with the risk management tasks on hand. All that is needed is to find that specialized tool that fits your needs and customize it to the IT environment in which you are in.
Here are some risk management tools that can help an IT security professional to effectively assess the organization’s assets and the risks which are associated with it: One of the hardest parts of the risk management cycle is to monitor what devices, applications, and different resources your business or corporation has handled as of now. On the off chance that you do not know what you have out there, you should seriously think about some free and open-source choices in this field. For instance, SpiceWorks (https://www.spiceworks.com/free-pc-network-inventory-software/) could be a good choice. It is important to note while it is not open-source, it is free. If you prefer an open-source alternative, GLPI (GNU GPL v 2) may be the best fit. However, if you must automate discovery, you might want to use something like OCS Inventory NG
Track Risks and Mitigations:
There are many free tools you can use to help track risk and mitigations, rank hazards by regarding their critical value, produce reports and complete other complex calculations. For example, SimpleRisk can get you started. However, the additional features are not free.
Analyzing Threats:
Breaking down the universe of Cyber based threat vectors which exist today and analyzing their impacts can be a very daunting task. Having a tool that can automate and streamline these processes can be extremely useful. The Practical Threat Analysis (PTA) tools can enable you to produce a threat model, efficiently assess the threats and impacts, and from there, build a risk register based on your IT environment. It is free to use and can help streamline the launch of a specific risk analysis program.
Vulnerability Scan:
Sometimes, there are highly specialized vulnerabilities which exist in a given IT environment. While there are some incredible commercial tools available, software packages like OpenVAS can be used for host scanning or Vega for application scanning, respectively.
Monitoring:
The ongoing monitoring of any system is a significant part of a holistic risk management process because unpredicted variations or downtime are both possibly symptomatic of an upcoming risk. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the information system and infrastructure can tie directly back to your current risk monitoring levels and practices. In this regard, tools such as Nagios or Icinga 2 can be both valuable and beneficial. It is important to remember that the purpose of assessing risk is to assist management in determining where to direct resources. If proper tools are used in the process of risk management that best fits the organizational requirements, then you can overcome as many threats and risks that are associated with your IT Infrastructure. Businesses and organizations should choose their risk assessment and management tools wisely as it is the biggest concern in the IT world in today’s times.
