Sharpen your skills in IT risk management
‘We should never have said that’ and how to avoid it being used against you before it’s too late
‘Loose Lips Sink Ships’ was printed on a propaganda poster during World War 2. It was one of the key messages from the ‘United States Office of War Information’, which urged citizens to avoid careless chatter that could potentially undermine war activities. The same...
Give me a number!
People are often asked about estimates in investments, the opening of new business areas, projects and budgeting. The estimates given are subject to uncertainty. No one can tell the exact amount, time etc., that will occur in the future. Despite this...
The simplest risk metrics that we just can’t agree on
Inherent risk… residual risk… current risk? When your risk manager or regulatory affairs asks about your “inherent risk”, it highlights a fundamental flaw in qualitative risk assessments. Here’s why - and how to fix it. Although most of us engage in some form of risk...
Top 5 objections to using quantitative models within cyber risk management
Changing habits and mindsets take time and persistence. Especially within IT risk management. Again and again, we at ACI meet tonnes of objections to changing behaviour despite witnessing the benefits of moving from qualitative to quantitative. So, I felt...
Managing Cyber Risk With Tactical and Strategic Management Information
Communication is difficult, also when it comes to the risk of cyberattacks. The board and management need a clear basis for decision-making, but the communication needs to improve because it is often too technical or too high-level and abstract. Both cases are useless...
When a robot gives better estimates than a human
For organisations with many (several hundred) systems, quantitative IT risk management can be likened to a window cleaner being asked to clean the United Nations headquarters in New York. He will never finish before the first couple of windows need cleaning again. The...
The organisation’s dripping faucets
A clear agenda for the organization is: "Understand and reduce the risk of cyber-attacks". The management and the board have gradually joined the agenda and understand that we are dealing with a risk that they must deal with. We estimate that cyber can cause extreme...
A guide to a simple probabilistic risk assessment
When you assess IT-risk, you want to understand the probability of certain risk scenarios together with their potentiel loss in monetary values. This is where quantitative solutions come handy. How does a quantitative risk assessment work? How do I get started with...
Risk appetite – Why and how to determine it?
A skilled offshore engineer with whom I collaborated gave me a very concrete example of the application of risk appetite. The height of a drilling platform is set according to legislation and standards but also according to the company's risk appetite. How big a wave...