Risk management frameworks

In today’s world, keeping information in a secure state is a real challenge. The number of threats is astonishing, and the ways hackers has never been such creative and successful. The preservation of the business itself, among with information, people, processes, and everything else useful to it to continue operations is a big challenge. Hopefully, what we can do is take some proactive steps to ensure we at least understand the issues we have and see how we can manipulate them from a cost and benefit perspective. We can start applying risk management to identify, assess, and mitigate risks that could impact an organization's objectives. By taking a proactive approach to risk management, organizations can reduce the likelihood and impact of negative events and enhance their ability to achieve their goals.

Risk management benefits

• Protecting assets: Risk management can help protect an organization's assets, such as physical assets, financial resources, and reputation.
• Reducing costs: By identifying and mitigating risks, organizations can reduce the costs associated with negative events, such as legal fees, fines, and damage to property or equipment.
• Enhancing decision-making: By providing a systematic and structured approach to risk management, organizations can make more informed and effective decisions about risk.
• Improving performance: By managing risks effectively, organizations can enhance their performance and achieve their objectives more efficiently.
• Meeting regulatory requirements: Many industries are subject to regulatory requirements that mandate the implementation of risk management programs. By complying with these requirements, organizations can avoid penalties and other negative consequences.

Overall, risk management is a critical function for organizations of all sizes and industries. It helps organizations to be proactive in identifying and mitigating risks, which ultimately helps them to achieve their goals more effectively and efficiently.

But, knowing all that, from what point can we begin in the implementation of risk management? Well, we can explore a framework - a structured approach to identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks that could impact an organization's objectives. It provides a systematic and repeatable process for managing risks and enables organizations to prioritize risks based on their potential impact and likelihood. Thus, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but to use something that is proved, validated to work. However, since it is a framework, it does not necessarily detail every technical step to achieve the implementation. But it does certainly provide good guidance, that should be followed.

Frameworks used with risk management?

Below is a list of common frameworks that can be used for risk management.

ISO31000

• A global standard for risk management that provides guidelines and principles for managing risks in any organization. The standard provides a framework for identifying, assessing, evaluating, and treating risks in a structured and systematic way.
• ISO 31000 works by providing a set of principles and guidelines for effective risk management. These principles include:
• Integration of risk management into the organization's governance, planning, and management processes.
• Use of the best available information to support decision-making.
• Application of a systematic and structured approach to risk management.
• Consideration of the organization's internal and external context when assessing and evaluating risks.
• Involvement of stakeholders in the risk management process.
• Communication and consultation with stakeholders to ensure that risk management is effective and relevant.
• Continual monitoring and review of the effectiveness of risk management processes.

The ISO 31000 framework includes four key steps:

1. Establishing the context: This involves defining the scope and objectives of the risk management process, identifying relevant stakeholders, and establishing the criteria for evaluating risks.
2. Risk assessment: This involves identifying and analyzing risks that may affect the organization's objectives, assessing the likelihood and impact of those risks, and prioritizing them based on their level of risk.
3. Risk treatment: This involves developing and implementing strategies to manage or mitigate the identified risks, including avoiding, transferring, reducing, or accepting them.
4. Monitoring and review: This involves continually monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of the risk management process, including the implementation of risk treatment strategies and any changes to the internal or external context.

ISO 31000 can be applied to any type of organization, regardless of its size, industry, or location. The standard provides a flexible framework that can be tailored to the specific needs and objectives of each organization. By using ISO 31000, organizations can effectively identify and manage risks, improve decision-making, and enhance their overall performance and resilience.

NIST Cybersecurity Framework

A voluntary framework designed to provide a set of guidelines and best practices for managing cybersecurity risk in organizations. It was created by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in response to Executive Order 13636, which called for the development of a framework to improve the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure in the United States.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is based on five core functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. These functions are designed to help organizations understand their cybersecurity risks, protect against those risks, detect, and respond to any incidents, and recover from any cyberattacks.

Identify: This function involves developing an understanding of the organization's cybersecurity risks, including the systems, assets, data, and personnel that are at risk. This includes identifying and prioritizing critical assets and systems, as well as understanding the organization's legal and regulatory obligations.

Protect: This function involves implementing measures to protect the organization's assets and systems from cybersecurity risks. This includes implementing access controls, developing policies and procedures, and providing security awareness training to employees.

Detect: This function involves developing the ability to detect cybersecurity incidents in a timely manner. This includes implementing continuous monitoring systems, using security analytics, and establishing incident response plans.

Respond: This function involves developing and implementing a plan to respond to cybersecurity incidents. This includes developing incident response plans, establishing communication plans, and providing guidance to employees on how to respond to incidents.

Recover: This function involves developing the ability to recover from cybersecurity incidents and resume normal operations. This includes implementing backup and recovery systems, developing business continuity plans, and testing these plans regularly.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is designed to be flexible and adaptable to the needs of different organizations. It can be used by organizations of all sizes and in all sectors, including critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, finance, and healthcare. The framework is intended to help organizations manage their cybersecurity risks in a systematic and structured way, improving their overall cybersecurity posture and resilience.

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

A framework for IT service management (ITSM) that provides best practices for planning, delivering, and managing IT services. ITIL is designed to help organizations align their IT services with the needs of their business and to improve the quality of their IT services.

ITIL is divided into several core areas, or "books," which are designed to provide guidance on different aspects of IT service management:

• Service Strategy: This book focuses on the development of IT service strategies that are aligned with the organization's business objectives. It provides guidance on how to create a service portfolio, develop service level agreements, and conduct financial management for IT services.
• Service Design: This book focuses on the design of IT services, including how to design service level agreements, manage suppliers and contracts, and design IT service architectures.
• Service Transition: This book focuses on the transition of IT services into production, including how to plan and manage changes to IT services, how to manage knowledge and risks, and how to conduct testing and validation.
• Service Operation: This book focuses on the day-to-day management of IT services, including incident management, problem management, and service desk management.
• Continual Service Improvement: This book focuses on how to continually improve the quality of IT services, including how to measure service performance, identify areas for improvement, and implement service improvement plans.

ITIL is based on the concept of a "service lifecycle," which represents the stages that an IT service goes through from conception to retirement. The service lifecycle consists of five stages: Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, and Continual Service Improvement.

ITIL provides a set of processes, functions, and roles that are designed to support the service lifecycle. These include processes such as incident management, problem management, change management, and service level management, as well as functions such as the service desk and technical management.

ITIL is a flexible framework that can be adapted to the needs of different organizations. It is designed to be compatible with other frameworks and standards, such as ISO/IEC 20000, and can be integrated with other ITSM tools and technologies. ITIL is widely used by organizations around the world, including government agencies, financial institutions, and technology companies, to improve the quality of their IT services and align them with their business objectives.

Agile Risk Management Framework (ARM)

A risk management approach that combines the principles of Agile software development with risk management practices. It is designed to help organizations manage risk in an agile and iterative manner while also promoting continuous improvement.

The ARM framework consists of several key components, including:

• Risk identification: In the ARM framework, risk identification is an ongoing process that occurs throughout the project. This involves identifying potential risks, such as technical, organizational, or environmental risks, and evaluating their potential impact on the project.
• Risk assessment: Once risks are identified, they are assessed based on their likelihood and impact. This helps prioritize risks so that the most significant risks can be addressed first.
• Risk mitigation: The ARM framework emphasizes a proactive approach to risk management, which means that risks are addressed before they become issues. This involves implementing mitigation strategies to reduce the likelihood or impact of risks.
• Risk monitoring and control: As the project progresses, risks are continually monitored to ensure that the mitigation strategies are effective. If new risks are identified, they are evaluated, and new mitigation strategies are implemented.
• Continuous improvement: The ARM framework promotes continuous improvement by encouraging organizations to reflect on their risk management practices and identify areas for improvement. This involves regular reviews of the risk management process and implementing changes as necessary.

The ARM framework is designed to be flexible and adaptable to different organizations and projects. It is based on the principles of Agile software development, which emphasizes collaboration, flexibility, and responsiveness to change. By applying these principles to risk management, organizations can manage risks more effectively while also promoting innovation and continuous improvement.

Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation (OCTAVE)

A risk management methodology developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. OCTAVE is designed to help organizations assess and manage risks to their critical assets by identifying potential threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts.

The OCTAVE methodology consists of three phases:

1. Identify the scope of the assessment and define the organization's mission, objectives, and critical assets. This phase involves identifying and prioritizing the organization's assets based on their importance to the organization's mission and objectives.

2. Identify and analyze potential threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts. This phase involves identifying potential threats to the organization's critical assets and assessing the likelihood and potential impact of each threat. Vulnerabilities that could be exploited by threats are also identified and evaluated.

3. Develop and implement risk mitigation strategies. Based on the results of the risk assessment, risk mitigation strategies are developed and implemented to reduce the likelihood or impact of identified threats. The effectiveness of the mitigation strategies is also monitored to ensure that they are working as intended.

The OCTAVE methodology emphasizes a collaborative and iterative approach to risk management. It involves engaging key stakeholders from across the organization to identify and evaluate risks, prioritize critical assets, and develop risk mitigation strategies. By involving stakeholders in the risk management process, the OCTAVE methodology helps to build a shared understanding of the organization's risks and promotes a culture of risk awareness and management.

The OCTAVE methodology can be applied to a wide range of industries and organizations, including government agencies, healthcare organizations, financial institutions, and critical infrastructure providers. By using the OCTAVE methodology, organizations can better understand their risks and implement effective risk management strategies to protect their critical assets.

Conclusion

Of course, many other risk management frameworks exist – this is just an overview of the most used, or at least from the ones we could have heard about and explored in the industry. In case your role is in direct relationship with risk management, we suggest the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) training, a course that explores the many opportunities in risk management and helps understand the strategic importance of having such risk management frameworks implemented.