What is a Gap Analysis?
Security gap analysis is a procedure that aids businesses in assessing how well their existing level of information security compares to a particular standard. Although gap analysis and risk assessment are frequently used interchangeably, they are different. We’ll discuss the difference further in the article.
Besides comparing an organization’s current state of information security against specific industry requirements, gap assessments are also conducted to determine how and whether to implement a given security standard.
Most often, the goal of a gap analysis in cyber security is to achieve certification eventually or to win a contract that requires a specific certification. A gap analysis will give you a thorough estimate of the monetary cost of the certification process for your business and cut costs by identifying the arrangements and controls already in place and specifying a targeted path toward certification.
An Information Security Gap Analysis Report Contains:
- Requirements of the selected standard
- What controls are currently in place
- Information on whether existing controls and configurations can be adapted to the desired standard
- A list of resources to aid certification
- Time estimation of how long it will take to be compliant
- A cost estimate
- Expected challenges and management techniques
What’s the Difference Between Gap Analysis and Risk Assessment?
Two of the most crucial procedures organizations must carry out while implementing a security framework or evaluating their compliance level are gap analyses and risk assessments. Due to their many similarities, organizations frequently mistake the two and apply parts of one process to the other. This causes a waste of resources and in some cases, may prevent the organization from meeting the criteria of the standard. Following is a concise explanation describing how each procedure functions and how they integrate.
As the more well-known of the two, risk assessment includes an overview of the type and magnitude of an organization’s risk exposure and compares these estimated risks against the enterprise’s risk acceptance criteria. By calculating risk based on threat exposures, vulnerabilities, likelihood, and impact, organizations can implement controls to mitigate or minimize the risk. Every bona fide risk assessment will produce a remediation plan which creates a road map for “fixing” any security flaws identified by the risk assessment.
On the other hand, an IT security gap analysis aims to highlight distinctions and factors between “what currently is” and “what should be” concerning compliance with a framework or standard. It will concentrate on controls or operations, not on risk exposure. Gap analyses alone are typically not appropriate for overall assessments that call for a better comprehension of risk and more advanced GRC assessment tools.
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How To Perform a Successful Gap Analysis
1. Identify a Specific Industry Framework
The first stage in your gap analysis procedure is to select an industrial security framework. This allows you to ascertain your current direction. Industry frameworks provide comparison points for your network systems.
2. Assessment of People and Processes
You must examine your team and IT procedures as part of the gap analysis methodology’s next stage. Here, your cybersecurity specialists gather data on things like your IT systems, how applications are used, your security policies, and your personnel. Your security professionals can spot regions vulnerable to dangers and breaches and lag behind your preferred frameworks by paying close attention to these particulars.
3. Data Collection and Analysis
The stage of acquiring data follows. Here, comparison tests of your organization’s security controls are performed. You can assess your technical controls, including network applications, server applications, and security controls, using frameworks like ISO 27001 or the NIST. With the help of this cybersecurity gap analysis stage, you can see how well your security measures will hold up in the event of a breach.
4. Gap Analysis
The gap analysis stage comes last. Your cybersecurity controls are consolidated during the gap analysis step, and the results show where your defenses are weak and strong. The result is a gap analysis report with suggestions on how to proceed in areas like staffing requirements, technological evaluations, and the timeline for putting better security measures into place.
How Can Centraleyes Help?
Centraleyes can be used as a gap analysis tool to discover the missing elements of your security system and identify the key areas of the standard you’re pursuing. Our cutting-edge platform brings all your data into one centralized location making it easier to perform a gap analysis and subsequent planning out of actions that need to be taken.
Centraleyes can also provide all the other elements of a full risk assessment to be used together with your gap analysis, providing cutting-edge reports and easily comprehensible results.
Find out more about how Centraleyes can help you undertake a comprehensive gap analysis.
Start Getting Value With
Centraleyes for Free
See for yourself how the Centraleyes platform exceeds anything an old GRC
system does and eliminates the need for manual processes and spreadsheets
to give you immediate value and run a full risk assessment in less than 30 days
