Cybersecurity is no longer just about protecting systems and data; it's about supporting and enabling business growth. Modern security leaders must align their strategies with business objectives, ensuring that risk management becomes an integral part of operational success.
Anthony Biegacki, the CIO and CISO of Covelli Enterprises, joined us to discuss how effective risk management in cybersecurity involves understanding the business deeply, implementing structured risk assessments, and communicating with stakeholders in ways that resonate. Here are 7 key insights that highlight how cybersecurity professionals can elevate their approach.
- Deep Business Integration: The Foundation of Effective Risk Management
To effectively manage risk, cybersecurity leaders must deeply understand their organization’s business model. Security cannot be treated as a standalone function; it needs to be fully integrated with daily operations. This requires leaders to know the flow of business processes inside and out, from the moment a customer interacts with the business to how transactions are processed and services delivered.
By embedding cybersecurity into every corner of the business, from supply chain to HR to customer experience, cybersecurity professionals can assess potential risks with clarity. It also enables more precise prioritization of threats and a clearer understanding of how different departments are interconnected, providing better context for decision-making. Security risks don't just impact the technology stack; they reverberate across the entire organization, affecting operational efficiency, revenue generation, and even employee satisfaction.
- Structured Risk Assessment: Prioritize What Matters
A structured approach to risk assessment is essential. It’s about understanding the likelihood of an event, the cost if it happens, and the cost to mitigate it. This approach turns abstract security concerns into actionable business decisions. When calculating risk, security leaders need to ask critical questions: What’s the likelihood of a breach or failure? How much would it cost the business if it happened? How many operational sites or business units would be impacted?
By addressing these questions, organizations can better prioritize their security efforts and allocate resources effectively. If the potential loss is significant and the cost of mitigation is lower, then it becomes a no-brainer to take preventive action. However, there are instances where the cost to mitigate a risk might outweigh the impact of the risk itself, leading to more nuanced decision-making around acceptance or alternative risk treatment strategies.
- Holistic Consideration of Risk Impacts
Cybersecurity incidents don't just affect data; they disrupt the entire business ecosystem. When assessing risk, it's essential to consider broader operational and reputational impacts. A ransomware attack, for example, might not only lead to system downtime but also cause delays in payroll processing. This could lead to employee dissatisfaction and retention issues, compounding the financial and reputational damage to the business.
To be truly effective, risk assessments must encompass all potential outcomes, not just the technical impacts but also the human, operational, and reputational costs. This holistic perspective ensures that security leaders are considering the full scope of potential damage and can advocate for risk management strategies that align with the company's overall health and sustainability.
- Communicate in Business Terms: Bridging the Gap with Executives
One of the most common challenges for cybersecurity professionals is getting executive buy-in. Technical jargon and a focus on vulnerabilities often don't resonate with stakeholders at the board level. Instead, cybersecurity leaders must learn to speak the language of the business: money, reputation, and operational impact.
Rather than explaining a vulnerability in technical terms, it’s far more effective to quantify the risk in terms of financial loss or reputational damage. This might include forecasting the cost of system downtime, the impact on customer trust, or even increased labor costs due to business disruptions. By framing cybersecurity risks as business risks, security leaders can shift conversations with executives toward action and resource allocation.
- Enabling Business Growth: Security as a Strategic Partner
Today’s cybersecurity leaders must view themselves as enablers of business growth, not roadblocks. The days of security teams being seen as the "department of no" are over. Instead, security professionals should focus on how they can help the business innovate securely. This might mean finding ways to integrate emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, while mitigating associated risks, or finding solutions that support digital transformation without exposing the organization to unnecessary vulnerabilities.
The key is to balance security with agility. Business leaders need to know that cybersecurity will not stifle innovation but will help foster a secure environment where the organization can thrive and expand. This mindset shift allows security teams to position themselves as strategic partners in the organization's success rather than a source of friction.
- Frequent and Adaptive Risk Reviews
Risk management isn't a one-and-done task; it requires continuous review and adaptation. Organizations must regularly re-evaluate their security posture, especially when making changes to their IT infrastructure or business processes. Even routine updates, such as firmware upgrades or network changes, should be evaluated through a risk management lens to ensure they don't inadvertently introduce new vulnerabilities.
Moreover, conducting annual or more frequent comprehensive risk assessments can help identify gaps in defenses, allowing organizations to proactively address emerging threats. These assessments should not only focus on external risks but also on internal operational changes that could impact security, from new vendor relationships to changes in how sensitive data is handled.
- Survivability Planning: Preparing for the Worst
One of the most important aspects of risk management is preparing for worst-case scenarios. Cybersecurity leaders need to ask hard questions about the organization's ability to survive an extended disruption. Could the business continue operating if a ransomware attack left systems offline for weeks? How would this impact customers, employees, and the organization’s brand?
Developing a strong incident response and disaster recovery plan is crucial. These plans should be regularly tested and updated to reflect the latest threats and business realities. Beyond the technical aspects, leaders must also consider the human factor—how incidents impact employee morale, customer trust, and long-term business viability.
Biegacki shared the following with us as guides for other cybersecurity leaders:
To see the company, you need to spend time with other departments and try to understand the pain points of each area. This will help you decide about controls or even changing the infrastructure and how it will affect the business.
- What is the risk?
- What is the likelihood of this occurring?
- What is its cost if it occurs?
- What is the cost of fixing it effectively?
This is how we can prioritize risk management that affects our business. The cost has to consider all the pain points one may face, current and incident. Not just the channels that bring in the revenue but also accounts payable, accounting, payroll, human resources, legal, etc. So, if an incident happens, sales channels will go down.
- How much would you lose per site?
- How long could you be down for?
- What other departments would be affected?
- How would it affect your business reputation?
- How much stress will it put on the legal department?
- Will we run into compliancy and fines?
- How does it affect your business when channels come back up?
- Can we process data coming fast enough?
- Will makes be made trying to catch up with other departments?
- Will we lose people if we don't pay them on time?
- Will this affect one area of the business or the whole enterprise?
- Will it affect partners or third-party supplies?
- Is the cost of fixing it higher than the cost if it occurs?
- Will implementing this control eliminate all risk or just enough to be an acceptable level of risk?
- Will the control help comply with local or federal laws and other compliance?
- Will the risk rescue legal ramifications altogether or at the acceptable risk level?
- Will the control negatively affect business? (slow the process down? Or slow down operations?)
- Is this control cost-effective?
- Is this a temporary control until a proper fix is ready? (Legacy applications migration to new applications)
When talking with executives, they might not understand technology vulnerabilities, but they do understand risk and how much money they could lose if this risk occurs. It's not that they don't care if you are not speaking the language, and when it comes to the bottom line, they will work with you until the risk is gone or to an acceptable level at which they are comfortable.
