What is Data Risk Assessment (DRA) | Outcome and Benefit

Data Risk Assessment Meaning and Overview

A Data Risk Assessment (DRA) is an exercise carried out to evaluate the security posture of an organization’s data against common data security threats, risks and regulatory concerns.

Often conducted by a vendor or practitioner with the assistance of Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) software, a DRA provides an in-depth report with actionable next steps on mitigation.

Small scale Data Risk Assessments are normally delivered for free by vendors to give enterprises a glimpse of the ability of DSPM solutions, which enable enterprises to automatically discover, classify and orchestrate data.
 

What is a Data Risk Assessment?

Enterprises are responsible for protecting scores of data, and that amount of data is growing by the day. 

Users don’t make data security any easier, accessing files from nearly anywhere in the world and interacting with data everywhere imaginable through the cloud. 

Organizations must maintain complete visibility and control over structured data such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and unstructured data like intellectual property. Achieving total coverage is easier said than done.

A Data Risk Assessment gives enterprises a real-time view of their data along with the risks and vulnerabilities associated with that data. This includes discovery of known and unknown data across cloud and on-premises storage, identification and classification of that data dependent on criticality and regulatory coverage, as well as recommendations on how to remediate any associated risks.

The DRA is delivered as an in-depth report with next steps outlining exactly how to mitigate these security and privacy concerns, as well as best practices for preventing future incidents.

Data Risk Assessments are an essential component of a healthy data security strategy, enabling businesses to evaluate where their data is, how that data is being used, who has access to the data, and the potential dangers that surround it. For a business that needs to comply with regional or industry-specific regulations, a DRA can help prevent noncompliance or prove compliance.

Top Data Security Threats and Risks

There are many data security threats that enterprises face, but they can boil down to two major concerns: active threats and passive risks.

Active threats are the data security headlines you might read about in the news, such as malware attacks, phishing schemes and insider threats. These are premeditated incidents where a company’s security defenses are tested as threat actors seek to exfiltrate data through any means necessary. 

Passive risks may also be newsworthy but are less spoken about. Data leaks, third-party vulnerabilities and oversharing are chief among them. The incidents don’t grab attention because they’re often accidental by nature, but the data loss that stems from them is consequential. 

Stopping both active threats and passive risks to data requires an impeccable understanding of: 

• What data you have
• Where that data is
• Who has access to it
• Why users have access
• How data security is being enforced

A Data Risk Assessment helps organizations get a handle on the first three bullet points – what data you have, where that data is, and who has access to it. Underpinning the in-depth DRA report is the automated discovery and classification of data, as well as the user permissions tied to that data, which gives a baseline for these answers.

The report then helps inform the strategy and framework part of the discussion – why users have access to certain types of data – and the technology aspect, or how data security is being enforced.

Because of this, Data Risk Assessments play an important role in preparing organizations for the many data security threats and risks they encounter as a preventative measure in their overall strategy.

How a Data Risk Assessment Works

Data Risk Assessments are standardized in that they consist of a period of data discovery and classification, followed by the creation of a report listing vulnerabilities and steps to resolve them.

However, the technology underlying the DRA and the experts involved in pulling together the evaluation and actionable insights are where enterprises will begin to see differences. Businesses will want to see a combination of cutting-edge technologies being used by practitioners who have years of experience in data security.

Here is how a Data Risk Assessment at Forcepoint works:

1. On requesting a Data Risk Assessment, activity will start with an agreement on the scope and size of the engagement. At Forcepoint, this includes:
   1. Downloading the environment (one day)
   2. Deploying the environment (two days)
   3. On-going advice from a Forcepoint expert to help run the DRA
2. You will begin a scan of the agreed site using Forcepoint Data Security Posture Management (DSPM). Forcepoint DSPM automates data discovery and uses artificial intelligence for highly accurate and efficient classification.
3. The Forcepoint DSPM dashboard will highlight any concerns that were found during the DRA. This could range from duplicate or overshared data to incorrect user permissions or noncompliance.
4. The customer will receive a report with actionable insights found during the scan, providing immediate value even from the limited scope of the evaluation. The incidents listed in the report are normally remediated in near-real time with Forcepoint DSPM.

While the Forcepoint Data Risk Assessment is limited in scope, enterprises can of course run a full DRA using a DSPM or through a full-scope engagement.

Insights and Outcome from Data Risk Assessment

Every Data Risk Assessment will have its own look and feel depending on who conducted it. But at the end of it, the insights gleaned from the DRA as well as the outcome should be similar if successful.

Common insights found during Forcepoint Data Risk Assessments include: 

• An overview of where data resides across specified storage location(s).
• A map or representation of where data is traveling in the course of standard workflows.
• A list of identified data security risks and vulnerabilities, prioritized according to severity of risk.
• Conclusions on whether the organization’s data security practices are compliant with regulatory requirements.
• Risk mitigation strategies (also prioritized according to risk level).

These insights should be actionable and empower organizations to tackle major risks such as system misconfigurations and overexposed sensitive data, quickly reducing the footprint of sensitive information and blocking potential exfiltration vectors before moving to address lower-priority problems.

Data Security Posture Management and Data Risk Assessment

Gaining full visibility and control over sensitive data is critical for the effective performance of a Data Risk Assessment, and a good DSPM solution can provide an ideal foundation. 

By combining data discovery, classification and orchestration, DSPM can help organizations uncover unknown “dark” data and correctly identify ROT (Redundant, Obsolete or Trivial) data that undermines the overall data security posture. 

Advanced solutions such as Forcepoint DSPM offer automated discovery capabilities and can leverage AI to better categorize data and improve the accuracy of classification. This makes it possible to conduct a Data Risk Assessment that correctly lists what types of data can be found where, ensuring that sensitive information does not fall through the cracks. 

Think of Data Security Posture Management as the tool to both make your Data Risk Assessment as helpful as possible and provide the ongoing visibility and control to rapidly spot and mitigate future risks.

Data Security and Privacy Risk Assessment Use Cases

Conducting a Data Risk Assessment to eliminate oversharing of sensitive data and provide the roadmap for risk mitigation activities is key to any data security strategy, and not having performed one previously is an excellent reason for a DRA. 

But there are numerous other circumstances that may call for a Data Risk Assessment even if it is not the first for your organization. These include:

• Responding to new or pending regulatory requirements: The regulatory landscape continues to get more complicated, and organizations operating in multiple jurisdictions must be proactive to ensure continued compliance and avoid business interruptions.
• Consolidating the data resources of two organizations: Mergers and acquisitions present the challenge of combining potentially massive sets of data without compromising the security of sensitive information or the privacy of customers and employees.
• Implementing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program: Allowing employees to use personal devices for work can be accomplished safely, but it requires careful control, and a firm grasp of where sensitive data resides if you want to prevent leaks.
• Migrating systems to the cloud: As many organizations opt to move from on-premises deployments to cloud-based solutions and storage, it is critical to understand where sensitive data will go and what new risks need to be addressed.
• Adopting generative AI technology: GenAI can boost productivity and drive other key performance differentiators, but they also have the potential to expose sensitive information and intellectual property to exfiltration if not implemented carefully and with clear visibility.

Data Risk Assessment Benefits

Conducting a Data Risk Assessment can produce a wide range of benefits that promote continued health and control over sensitive data for organizations. These include the ability to:

• Improve decision-making capabilities by providing a clear picture of what data is out there and what ought to be done with it.
• Strengthen security posture by reducing the footprint of sensitive information and identifying risks that could lead to data breaches.
• Optimize use of finite resources by fixing data security risks and vulnerabilities in the most efficient order.
• Reduce operating costs by allowing security teams to focus efforts on critical data and infrastructure.
• Enhance company reputation by safeguarding information and building trust with stakeholders.
• Guarantee ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements, even as businesses scale up and the regulatory landscape evolves.