An information risk profile is used to determine the risk acceptance of the company. It is used to determine the value of the assets. It is critical to the success of the risk management strategies and activities because then the company can determine where to spend their resources and what assets are most valuable to the company, whether that be the assets used to run company operations or loss and or compromised assets. Lost or compromised assets could have not only an impact to company operations but could also harm the company’s reputation.
An Article published on ISACA’s website states that an information risk profile “Documents the types, amounts and priority of information risk that an organization finds acceptable and unacceptable. This profile is developed collaboratively with numerous stakeholders throughout the organization, including business leaders, data and process owners, enterprise risk management, internal and external audit, legal, compliance, privacy, and IRMS.” It is important that an information risk profile is established for a variety of different reasons. A few reasons are so that information risk management professionals and key stakeholders are able to come to an agreement on risk tolerance and implement and integrate new technology under the appropriate risk mitigating controls. Make informed risk management decisions pertaining to vulnerabilities and threats. As well as allocate both funds and resources to ensure a high level of risk compliance is being maintained throughout said implementations and integrations.
Hi Nicholas,
I like your inclusion of allocating funds and resources as part of ensuring risk compliance. It’s difficult to allocate funding without performing a proper risk assessment or having an information risk profile since an improper allocation of funds can result in unnecessary risk or unexpected costs.
I agree with all of your points above. I would also add that in addition to the risk management professionals and key stakeholders coming to an agreement on risk tolerance, they would also need to agree on risk appetite and decide what risks the company are willing to accept.
Information risk profile lays a solid foundation for every organization by documenting the types of assets, inventory, values and prioritizing the information risk that meets risk tolerance thresholds defined by an organization according to ISACA. It features risk levels that range from low to high and high signifies the danger or damage that may occur to the organization and requires higher priority risk treatment. Information risk profile is a key to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities because it eases the friction between information risk management security leadership and business leaders due to different understandings of how each department runs its operations. It gives a critical guide about an organization’s information risk appetite and what is expected from the risk management.
Hi Shepherd,
Even beyond easing friction between risk security and business, it can be utilized in important decisions throughout a company. As it is an overall profile of a company’s information risk, it’s essential in understanding the significance of the threats and vulnerabilities to a business and the associated risks to them.
Information risk profiles evaluate the sensitivity of certain documents to measure the risk it has to the company should they become leaked in any way. The profile is used to help a company evaluate what it can do better to control the documents and make them more secure along with dealing with mitigation should any of the documents become leaked. Should this risk profile not exist, a company could be vulnerable to leaks that could jeopardize its trade secrets or company assets, therefore, making the profile crucial. This is typically why a company turns to a third-party organization to give this risk assessment so there is no bias.
Hi Matthew,
I like your inclusion of utilizing third-party organizations for risk assessments. Internal bias is more than likely going to affect a risk assessment; thus, utilizng a third-party organization can reduce the chances of internal bias affecting any risk assessments.
What is an information risk profile? How is it used? Why is it critical to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities?
An information risk profile is the knowledge document that a business can use to understand what threats and vulnerabilities it faces, how it is reacting to them and the residual risk that is being addressed,transferred, or accepted. It is critical for business success because it is one of the Know Yourself documents that a business needs to make informed decisions and create short and long term plans. Without an understanding on current risk, it will be difficult to impossible to adequately factor potential and future risks and responses to plan for their impacts on the business.
An information risk profile is the overall documentation that contains information regarding the types, amounts, and priority of information risk that an organization finds acceptable and unacceptable. It is used in aligning risk management to a company’s tolerance to risk. The document itself contains identification and assessment of threats and associated risks, which allows business leaders to make decisions regarding risk management. The information risk profile is critical to the success of an organization’s risk management and strategies because it evaluates threats, vulnerabilities, and associated risks which, to reiterate, allows business leaders to make informed decisions regarding risk management.
Hello Kenneth,
I agree with you that the documentation contains identification and assessment of threats and associated risks which is a key to the business and the entire organization. Knowing the risks that your organization may face helps with implement proper measures to ensure that the risk has been reduced to lower levels.
What is an information risk profile? How is it used? Why is it critical to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities?
An information risk profile is the documents that contain identified risks which a company can be exposed to. The information contains evaluations of different situations, capabilities, and current control activities. The risk profile is used to for company’s willingness and ability to take risks in decisions to be made. It is critical to the success of an organizations risk management and strategies and activities because it will help better guide for decisions to come which also come with risk. It is already giving us the head start to help protect information as well as lessen the chances of risks which are to happen.
What is an information risk profile? How is it used? Why is it critical to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities?
In an article published by Cyber Saint “The primary purpose of a risk profile is to identify the potential risk capacity and tolerance to risk a client can take before meeting their investment objectives. Therefore, risk profiling is of the utmost importance in the early stages of starting a business or making investments, especially if you have little to no experience assessing business risks.” It is critical to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities according to J Pironti (2013) in an ISACA published article he noted that “An information risk profile is critical to the success of an organization’s information risk management strategy and activities. It provides valuable insights into an organization’s information risk appetite and expectations for information risk management. Information risk and security professionals and programs that effectively leverage this information in their actions and activities can be confident in their alignment with business requirements and expectations”.
The information risk profile is the report of the risks an organization’s assets hold. Using this report, the board, or whoever is tasked with handling the risk profile, will assess where their biggest vulnerabilities are and what to do about them. Depending on the different levels of risk associated with different events, companies can determine which risks to address, share (Insurance), avoid or accept. The risk profile is critical to the success of an organization’s risk management because it organizes risk in a measurable and meaningful way that can be addressed however the organization deems appropriate. Understanding all of the risks an organization holds helps the business plan for whatever is coming.
I like that you included the options a company can choose from when assessing risk. As you mentioned they can mitigate, share as in Cyber insurance or outsource to another company entirely, avoid, or accept. I wonder, however, how you would avoid the risk? I can see how you’d choose to mitigate by implementing controls, share by offloading the risk to another company or buying insurance, as well as accept the risk and do nothing. However, I’m not sure how you would avoid it?
An information risk profile is a document that contains what is acceptable and not acceptable as a risk. They have the number of risks, the priority of the risk, and the amounts of risks in an organization. The organization uses an information risk profile to create preferences on risks. This is by giving them insight into what to expect in the future regarding risk. This profile allows the management to create a formidable business plan that will align with its objectives. An information risk profile helps caution the business against threats that could cause harm (Gambetta, Azcárate-Llanes, Sierra-García, & García-Benau, 2021). An information risk profile is essential for the organization’s risk management because it highlights the level of risks enabling the organization to create the best plan to mitigate these risks and caution it from halting its activities.
Hi Samuel, i like the fact that you included risk profile is essential for the organization’s risk management because it highlights the level of risks enabling the organization to create the best plan to mitigate and be able to still meet its business objectives.
Jill Brummer says
An information risk profile is used to determine the risk acceptance of the company. It is used to determine the value of the assets. It is critical to the success of the risk management strategies and activities because then the company can determine where to spend their resources and what assets are most valuable to the company, whether that be the assets used to run company operations or loss and or compromised assets. Lost or compromised assets could have not only an impact to company operations but could also harm the company’s reputation.
Nicholas Foster says
An Article published on ISACA’s website states that an information risk profile “Documents the types, amounts and priority of information risk that an organization finds acceptable and unacceptable. This profile is developed collaboratively with numerous stakeholders throughout the organization, including business leaders, data and process owners, enterprise risk management, internal and external audit, legal, compliance, privacy, and IRMS.” It is important that an information risk profile is established for a variety of different reasons. A few reasons are so that information risk management professionals and key stakeholders are able to come to an agreement on risk tolerance and implement and integrate new technology under the appropriate risk mitigating controls. Make informed risk management decisions pertaining to vulnerabilities and threats. As well as allocate both funds and resources to ensure a high level of risk compliance is being maintained throughout said implementations and integrations.
https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/past-issues/2013/key-elements-of-an-information-risk-profile#:~:text=The%20following%20are%20examples%20of,capabilities%20and%20associated%20data%20and
Kenneth Saltisky says
Hi Nicholas,
I like your inclusion of allocating funds and resources as part of ensuring risk compliance. It’s difficult to allocate funding without performing a proper risk assessment or having an information risk profile since an improper allocation of funds can result in unnecessary risk or unexpected costs.
Jill Brummer says
I agree with all of your points above. I would also add that in addition to the risk management professionals and key stakeholders coming to an agreement on risk tolerance, they would also need to agree on risk appetite and decide what risks the company are willing to accept.
Shepherd Shenjere says
Information risk profile lays a solid foundation for every organization by documenting the types of assets, inventory, values and prioritizing the information risk that meets risk tolerance thresholds defined by an organization according to ISACA. It features risk levels that range from low to high and high signifies the danger or damage that may occur to the organization and requires higher priority risk treatment. Information risk profile is a key to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities because it eases the friction between information risk management security leadership and business leaders due to different understandings of how each department runs its operations. It gives a critical guide about an organization’s information risk appetite and what is expected from the risk management.
Kenneth Saltisky says
Hi Shepherd,
Even beyond easing friction between risk security and business, it can be utilized in important decisions throughout a company. As it is an overall profile of a company’s information risk, it’s essential in understanding the significance of the threats and vulnerabilities to a business and the associated risks to them.
Matthew Stasiak says
Information risk profiles evaluate the sensitivity of certain documents to measure the risk it has to the company should they become leaked in any way. The profile is used to help a company evaluate what it can do better to control the documents and make them more secure along with dealing with mitigation should any of the documents become leaked. Should this risk profile not exist, a company could be vulnerable to leaks that could jeopardize its trade secrets or company assets, therefore, making the profile crucial. This is typically why a company turns to a third-party organization to give this risk assessment so there is no bias.
Kenneth Saltisky says
Hi Matthew,
I like your inclusion of utilizing third-party organizations for risk assessments. Internal bias is more than likely going to affect a risk assessment; thus, utilizng a third-party organization can reduce the chances of internal bias affecting any risk assessments.
David Vanaman says
What is an information risk profile? How is it used? Why is it critical to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities?
An information risk profile is the knowledge document that a business can use to understand what threats and vulnerabilities it faces, how it is reacting to them and the residual risk that is being addressed,transferred, or accepted. It is critical for business success because it is one of the Know Yourself documents that a business needs to make informed decisions and create short and long term plans. Without an understanding on current risk, it will be difficult to impossible to adequately factor potential and future risks and responses to plan for their impacts on the business.
Kenneth Saltisky says
An information risk profile is the overall documentation that contains information regarding the types, amounts, and priority of information risk that an organization finds acceptable and unacceptable. It is used in aligning risk management to a company’s tolerance to risk. The document itself contains identification and assessment of threats and associated risks, which allows business leaders to make decisions regarding risk management. The information risk profile is critical to the success of an organization’s risk management and strategies because it evaluates threats, vulnerabilities, and associated risks which, to reiterate, allows business leaders to make informed decisions regarding risk management.
Shepherd Shenjere says
Hello Kenneth,
I agree with you that the documentation contains identification and assessment of threats and associated risks which is a key to the business and the entire organization. Knowing the risks that your organization may face helps with implement proper measures to ensure that the risk has been reduced to lower levels.
Parmita Patel says
What is an information risk profile? How is it used? Why is it critical to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities?
An information risk profile is the documents that contain identified risks which a company can be exposed to. The information contains evaluations of different situations, capabilities, and current control activities. The risk profile is used to for company’s willingness and ability to take risks in decisions to be made. It is critical to the success of an organizations risk management and strategies and activities because it will help better guide for decisions to come which also come with risk. It is already giving us the head start to help protect information as well as lessen the chances of risks which are to happen.
Abayomi Aiyedebinu says
What is an information risk profile? How is it used? Why is it critical to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities?
In an article published by Cyber Saint “The primary purpose of a risk profile is to identify the potential risk capacity and tolerance to risk a client can take before meeting their investment objectives. Therefore, risk profiling is of the utmost importance in the early stages of starting a business or making investments, especially if you have little to no experience assessing business risks.” It is critical to the success of an organization’s risk management strategies and activities according to J Pironti (2013) in an ISACA published article he noted that “An information risk profile is critical to the success of an organization’s information risk management strategy and activities. It provides valuable insights into an organization’s information risk appetite and expectations for information risk management. Information risk and security professionals and programs that effectively leverage this information in their actions and activities can be confident in their alignment with business requirements and expectations”.
https://www.cybersaint.io/blog/establishing-your-startups-risk-profile
https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/past-issues/2013/key-elements-of-an-information-risk-profile
Maxwell ODonnell says
The information risk profile is the report of the risks an organization’s assets hold. Using this report, the board, or whoever is tasked with handling the risk profile, will assess where their biggest vulnerabilities are and what to do about them. Depending on the different levels of risk associated with different events, companies can determine which risks to address, share (Insurance), avoid or accept. The risk profile is critical to the success of an organization’s risk management because it organizes risk in a measurable and meaningful way that can be addressed however the organization deems appropriate. Understanding all of the risks an organization holds helps the business plan for whatever is coming.
Nicholas Foster says
Hi Max,
I like that you included the options a company can choose from when assessing risk. As you mentioned they can mitigate, share as in Cyber insurance or outsource to another company entirely, avoid, or accept. I wonder, however, how you would avoid the risk? I can see how you’d choose to mitigate by implementing controls, share by offloading the risk to another company or buying insurance, as well as accept the risk and do nothing. However, I’m not sure how you would avoid it?
Samuel Omotosho says
An information risk profile is a document that contains what is acceptable and not acceptable as a risk. They have the number of risks, the priority of the risk, and the amounts of risks in an organization. The organization uses an information risk profile to create preferences on risks. This is by giving them insight into what to expect in the future regarding risk. This profile allows the management to create a formidable business plan that will align with its objectives. An information risk profile helps caution the business against threats that could cause harm (Gambetta, Azcárate-Llanes, Sierra-García, & García-Benau, 2021). An information risk profile is essential for the organization’s risk management because it highlights the level of risks enabling the organization to create the best plan to mitigate these risks and caution it from halting its activities.
Abayomi Aiyedebinu says
Hi Samuel, i like the fact that you included risk profile is essential for the organization’s risk management because it highlights the level of risks enabling the organization to create the best plan to mitigate and be able to still meet its business objectives.