Systems for risk management automation (GRC, IRM)

The GRC is a strategic framework that integrates different aspects of governance, risk and compliance into one coherent strategy. Its main objective is to ensure that organisations are governed effectively, identify and manage risks and comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Governance: Governance refers to the way in which an organisation is managed and what roles and responsibilities are defined at different levels. It includes defining the organisation's objectives, strategic planning, decision-making and performance monitoring. Effective governance enhances transparency, accountability and integrity in the organisation.

Risk: Risk is the probability of an event occurring that could negatively affect the achievement of the organisation's objectives. The GRC approach helps to identify and quantify risks and provides tools to proactively manage and minimize them. A thorough risk assessment is key to reducing potential negative impacts within the organization.

Compliance: Compliance refers to adherence to relevant laws, regulations and internal rules of the organisation. Some industries, such as finance or healthcare, have strict compliance requirements. The GRC system ensures that the organization meets all legal obligations and ethical standards.
 

GRC tools provide an umbrella for support for organizational governance, risk and compliance and are a comprehensive solution that provides every organization with the support to improve its security posture. At the core of the tool is a database of information assets and a sophisticated information risk management process, over which other agendas such as compliance management, supplier relationship management, incident and vulnerability management and more are exposed.

In addition, GRC tools have a wide range of integration and automation capabilities, keeping data up-to-date and complete.

However, we never target only the implementation of a GRC tool as part of our delivery. Our primary focus is on reviewing and improving processes. We recognize that a quality process is the foundation for transforming data into valuable outputs.
 

Do you still remember when Heartbleed vulnerability appeared and put your organization at risk? Now, technologies from Huawei and ZTE could also cause similar threats. In both cases, these were prominent risks, so it is easy to question how your risk analysis handles them. Can it reflect the newly identified threat, and in tomorrow's report will you see how much riskier it is towards unavailability or eavesdropping on the infrastructure you manage? No? Then your risk analysis is definitely not flexible enough.

We were contacted by one of our long-standing customers regarding Huawei's compromised technology campaign. Within a short period of time, they had factored this threat into their risk analysis. The customer's requirement was to satisfy the authorities and at the same time determine whether or not they needed to address this threat as a priority compared to other threats. Our consultants first analysed the existing information risk management method and took the threat into account. However, they also focused on weaknesses in the process, such as the regular updating of asset lists, the lack of linkages between assets, and the definition of responsibilities of individual users within the risk management process. The first key insight for the customer was the output of the risk analysis, from which they concluded that the current threat was not the most serious in the overall context of the organisation and could be resolved with time.

The second important insight was our recommendation for the implementation of an integrated GRC (Governance, Risk, Compliance) management system that would eliminate weaknesses in the risk management process and allow for a flexible response to emerging risks. Within six months, we implemented this new technology at the customer and integrated the entire risk management process into it. The customer liked the new solution to risk management so much that they decided to extend the GRC tool to the area of audit and GDPR compliance.

GRC proved to be a suitable tool to cover not only the information asset and risk management processes, but also other activities related to the management of the organisation. By using it, the company shares and uses the information stored in it across departments. The information is regularly updated, which leads to a streamlining of all activities in the company and therefore saves time and money.