How to Conduct a Security Risk Assessment: Guide for Government and Public Education Sectors

In the public sector, safeguarding your most sensitive data is a top priority.

Whether it’s personal information of citizens, private student records, or internal research data, protecting your most crucial and private information from cyber threats is key to long-term public safety and trust.

The most effective way to identify and mitigate security risks is through a comprehensive Security Risk Assessment (SRA). 

What is a Security Risk Assessment?

A Security Risk Assessment is the process of evaluating your organization's assets, identifying potential threats, assessing vulnerabilities, and determining the risks associated with these vulnerabilities. 

Let's take a look at the key steps in conducting a security risk assessment, with some expert guidance from our team at Sourcepass GOV.

Step 1: Define Assessment Scope and Objectives

The first step your organization should take is to define the objectives of your evaluation as well as the scope.

This task is crucial, as it ensures your assessment aligns with the needs of your organization. With the variety of data and systems involved, your scope could end up being quite broad. 

Some key considerations:

• Identify critical assets: What data, systems, or infrastructure are most vital to operations? This includes sensitive data, private records, key financial systems, or databases.

• Determining regulatory requirements: Public sector organizations, like government entities and public education, are subject to a range of compliance standards (e.g. HIPAA, FERPA, and GDPR). Your assessment should keep any applicable regulatory requirements in mind, ensuring your organization meets necessary standards. 

• Setting specific goals: The objective of your assessment should align with the needs, goals, vulnerabilities, and existing security controls of your organization.
  

Step 2: Identify Potential Threats

The next step is to identify potential threats that could compromise your organization's security.

Security threats are defined as any event or action that can cause harm to your systems, data, or personnel.

Common threats for the public sector include:

• Cyberattacks: Ransomware, phishing, and malware attacks are growing concerns, as government offices, educational institutions, and research entities are often targets for cyberattacks.

• Insider threats: Employees or contractors with access to sensitive data may intentionally or unintentionally compromise security. This could be due to negligence, lack of training, or malicious intent. 

• Natural disasters: Do you have a disaster recovery plan in place for your organization? It's important to not only consider virtual threats but physical ones as well. Earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters can damage your physical infrastructure, thus disrupting operations. 

• Physical theft: As mentioned in our previous point, not all threats are virtual. The physical theft of laptops, as well as the sensitive data that lives within them, can result in a breach of sensitive information. 

Step 3: Assess Vulnerabilities

Vulnerabilities are weaknesses an IT infrastructure that make an organization potentially open to a cyberattack.

Identifying vulnerabilities in your security risk assessment allows you to pinpoint key areas that need improved security.

Common vulnerabilities with the public sector include: 

• Outdated software: Even if your out-of-date software still technically runs, it's likely to leave you open for security risks. Often, old versions of operating systems and applications are no longer running security updates and bug fixes. This can leave your machine exposed.

• Weak authentication: Insufficient password creation, protection, and lack of security steps (e.g. MFA, Multi-Factor Authentication) can make your organization an easy target.

• Unencrypted data: Failure to encrypt your most sensitive data can lead to data exposure in the event of a breach. 
• Inadequate employee training: If your staff isn't trained to recognize phishing attempts, this gap can leave your organization open to threats. 

Step 4: Evaluate the Impact and Likelihood of Risks

Once threats and vulnerabilities have been identified, the next step is to evaluate the potential risks they pose.

This involves considering both the impact (severity of consequences) and the likelihood (probability of the threat). 

For example: 

• Impact: A data breach impact can differ or scale depending on the niche. For example, a student record breach could lead to identity theft and privacy violations, while a government data breach could jeopardize national security. 

• Likelihood: The likelihood of an attack could depend on factors such as the sophistication of threat actors, the level of protection in place, and the attractiveness of the target. 

Assessing both the impact and likelihood helps prioritize the risks so that your organization can allocate resources effectively to mitigate the most critical ones.

Step 5: Develop a Risk Mitigation Plan

After evaluating the risks, the next step is to develop a risk mitigation plan.

The goal of this plan is to reduce the likelihood and impact of identified risks as much as possible. Your specific mitigation strategy should be tailored to the threats and vulnerabilities uncovered in your previous assessment steps.

Possible mitigation action items include: 

• Implementing stronger access controls: Role-based access controls ensure only designated authorized personnel can access sensitive data and systems. 

• Applying security patches: Work to regularly patch and update software, applications, and operating systems to uphold your security posture.

• Enhancing employee training: Your team is often the first line of defense. Train your staff on security best practices, how to identify phishing attempts, and how to handle sensitive data securely. 

• Encrypting data: Ensure sensitive data is encrypted to prevent unauthorized access, even in the event that systems are breached. 
• Installing advanced threat detection tools: Implement intrusion detection systems and antivirus software to monitor for suspicious activity and respond to potential threats. 

Step 6: Implement Continuous Monitoring and Review

Achieving optimal security is a long-term, ongoing process. Once your security risk assessment is complete and your mitigation plans are in place, it’s still crucial to continuously and indefinitely monitor systems for potential threats.

Continuous security tasks can include:

• Regular vulnerability assessments: Cyber threats are constantly shifting and modernizing. It's crucial to conduct periodic scans and penetration tests to identify new vulnerabilities that may arise.

• Audit trails: Maintain logs of system activity to detect any unusual behavior that could indicate a breach or attempted attack. 
• Periodic reviews: Reassess the risk landscape periodically to ensure that your security measures remain effective as new threats emerge. 

Step 7: Document and Report Findings

Finally, documenting the findings of the security risk assessment is crucial for transparency and accountability.

Public sector organizations often need to report on security risks and mitigation strategies to regulatory bodies, stakeholders, or even the general public. 

• Document Findings via Risk Assessment Report: Ensure that all identified risks, vulnerabilities, and mitigation actions are clearly documented. Your risk assessment report should be easy to understand and actionable, providing your key decision-makers with the data they need to make informed security investments. 

Security Risk Assessments for the Public Sector with Sourcepass GOV

Security Risk Assessments are an essential part of maintaining robust cybersecurity that meets the standards of public sector organizations.

By identifying potential threats, assessing vulnerabilities, evaluating risks, and implementing mitigation strategies, your organization can better protect sensitive information and ensure the safety of your systems.

By taking a proactive approach to risk management, public sector organizations like local governments, schools, and first responders can remain resilient and proactive against cyber threats.