Information Systems Security Risk Assessment

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RISK METHODOLOGIES AND ANALYSIS
1 Rationales for performing an information systems security risk assessment
There are several advantages to evaluating the security risks of an information system. A risk assessment can help organizations identify threats and vulnerabilities lurking within their infrastructure (Blank et al., p.4). When it comes to protecting sensitive data, risk assessments may help administrators make better judgments about which data is most important to keep safe. When reducing the number of vulnerabilities exploited, the first step is to identify them. Everyone should know where they are most susceptible since it might have devastating financial effects if that weakness is controlled. It's essential to keep this in mind while doing a risk assessment. Through risk assessments, a corporation can take a moment out of their hectic schedule to seek out and highlight the weakest link in their organization's infrastructure. Identifying vulnerabilities and threats is the first step in determining the severity of the risks (Blank et al.pp 4-6). Organizations today have a better understanding of the types of attacks that are most likely to occur due to doing risk assessments. With this information, a business can take steps to lessen the impact of a risk should it happen.
Making a decision on which protections are most suitable for each identified risk is the final stage in reducing the potential harm. A risk assessment aids decision-makers by providing a cost-benefit analysis of hazards they should decrease. Investments in safeguards must also make economic sense. To protect a $12 object, you wouldn't spend $90 on a high-security lock. For enterprises, risk assessments provide insight into where they need to be safeguarded and likewise. What they must protect data and how they must defend it are the questions they must answer.
2 The differences in quantitative, qualitative, and hybrid information systems risk assessment illustrate the most applicable conditions under each type.
A quantitative risk assessment differs from a qualitative risk assessment by the very nature of the two types of assessments. Using formulas and numbers reduces risk and control analysis to a simple arithmetic problem. This strategy, however time-consuming, will connect more with non-IT decision-makers since it paints an easy-to-understand cost-benefit breakdown. A drawback to this strategy is that reliable data may not always be accessible, in the absence of accurate data; formulae may be incorrect, resulting in losses.
On the other hand, qualitative research relies on expert judgment to provide relative values. Qualitative employs probability and the impact of risk instead of verified facts based on statistics. Likelihood and influence determine which risks are most important and least necessary to the company (Mkrtchyan et al., p2). The qualitative technique employs phrases like "high," "medium," and "low" to describe the risk level. Compared to quantitative risk evaluation, qualitative analyses may be completed in a shorter time frame. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies is used in hybrid methods. Having the ability to draw on both data and professional a...