The risk assessment process provides guidelines for the organization to identify risks and find their solution. A risk assessment is necessary since it increases the ability of an organization to deal with a crisis. It also enables the organization to be prepared and save costs during operations. An organization should always carry out a risk assessment to ensure they implement the necessary strategies.

Risk assessment process

The first step in the risk assessment process is identifying problems faced by the organization staff. It is also necessary to identify possible challenges that are likely to affect the organization. The process should help identify natural disasters that may affect the organizations, such as earthquakes and floods. Other risks to the operations include biological hazards such as a pandemic (Aven, 2016). The organization needs to identify all possible risks to ensure that it can plan for their occurrence. All aspects of the organization should be considered to ensure a credible result of the research.

The second step is determining how the risks will affect the organization. The leaders of the risk assessment process should help in determining who the risks will affect. They should also evaluate the impact that it will cause to the people and departments involved (Aven, 2016). These steps should be carried in detail to ensure no fact is left unattended. Every hazard affects the organization differently, and it is essential to determine how it will affect the people involved. Identifying the people and impact will help in planning and implementation of preventive measures in the organization.

After gathering information on the potential risks, it is important to consider the consequences of its occurrence. The fourth step, therefore, involves evaluating the risks and potential methods to prevent them. Evaluation of the risks helps determine which risks should be given more attention (Aven, 2016). Risks that have greater consequences should be prioritized and their prevention methods heavily invested on since they may lead to the destruction of the organization.

The fourth step is to record the finding and use it as a reference if the crisis occurs. The recordings should have detailed information about the risks that were identified. It should show how the evaluation was conducted and the people likely to be affected by the risks. It should also include information about the control and prevention measures (Aven, 2016). Every risk should be classified as high, medium, or low to ensure that they are well prioritized in the plan. The records should be available for the staff to ensure they are aware of the risks that surround them.

The assessment of the organization should be frequently reviewed and updated. The risks of the organization keep changing due to the changing trends and advancements in technology. The introduction of new practices and devices in an organization contributes to the risks exposed (Eales, 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that risk assessment documents and strategies are reviewed frequently to cover all potential risks. After reviewing the risks assessment, updating the risk control and prevention measures is necessary for the organization.

Vulnerabilities, threats, and exploits in risk assessment

A threat is an occurrence, action, event, or circumstance that could destroy. Harm causes adverse effects in an organization. In risk assessment, threats may lead to the failure of the precautions and controls to protect an organization. A threat can also lead to adverse effects in the company and should be considered when identifying risks (Eales, 2016). Exploits refer to taking advantage of a vulnerability. The vulnerabilities of an organization should be a great concern in an organization. Vulnerabilities refer to the weaknesses that expose an organization to threats. Therefore, an organization must identify its vulnerability to avoid its exploitation and avoid the occurrence of threats.

Network environment vulnerabilities

A network vulnerability can be caused by a weakness in a system or software. The vulnerabilities include malware, malicious software that will affect the performance of a system in an organization (Eales, 2016). Another vulnerability is the social engineering software attacks that may lead to access to personal and sensitive information in an organization's system. The information exposed may be used to make the organization less competitive. Another vulnerability is the use of outdated software, which potentially exposes the whole organization to cyber-attacks. The use of wrong firewalls can also affect the organization because it is not well protected. It is necessary to ensure that an organization has strategies to protect itself from vulnerabilities.

OUTLINE

Risk Assessment

Thesis statement: An organization should always carry out a risk assessment to ensure they implement the necessary strategies.

• Introduction
• Risk assessment process
• Vulnerabilities, threats, and exploits in risk assessment
• Network environment vulnerabilities