What is Risk Assessment in Security Testing?

Security Risk Assessment is an assessment that tries to identify risks in the security of your application and verifies that controls are in place to safeguard against any security threats. It also focuses on preventing any application security defects and vulnerabilities. Performing security testing can provide the overall chances of exploitation of the application. By knowing any vulnerabilities, the measures to secure them can be taken beforehand.

A security risk assessment finds and fixes the key security issues in applications and helps to prevent security risks and flaws. It helps organizations and their apps from an attacker’s viewpoint, allowing managers to make smart decisions about resources, tools, and security measures for organizational security reasons. This makes risk assessment important for managing an organization’s risks.

Various factors like size, growth rate, resources, and asset portfolio impact the detailed risk assessment models. Organizations will be using simple assessments if they have limited budgets or time for the testing. However, these simpler assessments will not give a detailed view of problems. If the results are not detailed then again more thorough assessment is needed.

There are majorly 4 steps involved for a successful security risk assessment model. Those are as follows:

1. Identification

Identify all critical technology infrastructure assets. Next, diagnose the sensitive data created, stored or transmitted by these assets. Create a risk profile for everyone.

For risk assessment, initially every risk is rated in two ways:

• The chance of a risk coming back true.
• The consequence of the issues related to that risk.

Based on these, the risks are prioritized and the further steps are taken.

2. Assessment

Follow an approach to to assess the identified potential risks for the system. After successful assessment, find out how you can allocate time and resources to mitigate the risks. Also, it includes assessing the existing security controls in mitigating the risks. Also, the resources are divided into this step.

3. Mitigation

In this approach, we develop a detailed mitigation plan outlining actions to reduce the identified risks. Both, preventive actions and responsive actions are considered in this mitigation plan.

4. Prevention

Implement tools and processes to minimize the threats for occurring into the system again. We also establish continuous monitoring mechanisms to detect and respond to emerging threats. Educate and train people on best security practices to prevent any kind of breaches.

The Role of Risk Assessment in security testing the main components are mention bellow.

1. Identify Risks

• It involves identifying the potential threats that could compromise the software security. It includes identifying vulnerabilities, understanding potential attackers, and finding any weaknesses in the security infrastructure.
• It needs a comprehensive analysis of the system’s code, architecture, and dependencies to find any point of exploitation.

2. Quantify Risks

• After identifying the risk, we need to quantify it based on its impact on the system.
• It helps in prioritizing which risks are more dangerous and are to be dealt with first. It involves assessing the potential effect of each risk on the system and a value is assigned to prioritize the risk which are more dangerous.
• It allows the security team to focus on prioritized risks first.

3. Decision Support

• It provides the information to the decision makers so that they can make informed decisions while implementing any security feature in the system.
• The information that is gathered during risk assessment helps in a great way in supporting the decision-making.
• Decision-makers often use this information to make informed decisions regarding the implementation of security features.

4. Resource Allocation

• Risk assessment helps in finding the areas where more resources are required to be deployed or adjusted to minimize the risks.
• By understanding the potential impact of each risk, resources are divided accordingly. Efficient allocation makes sure that only limited resources are provided for less significant issues.

5. Continuous Improvement

• It involves learning from past risk assessments and learning from those is implemented to further improve the security.
• Risk assessment is not a one-time process. It is an ongoing process.
• It involves learning from the past experiences. This approach helps organizations adapt to evolving risk challenges.

The two case studies given below outlines the practical applications of the security risk assessment:

1. Equifax Data Breach (2017)

Incident:

Equifax is a credit reporting agency which experienced a data breach that unfortunately exposed personal information of nearly 150 million people. The vulnerability in the Apache web app framework was the major reason for the breach.

Response:

Significant backlash was faced by the company. There were increased scrutiny of cyber security in the finance industry. Companies started focusing on identifying the vulnerabilities in the software and patching it. Also, companies started focusing on robust measures to protect the sensitive data.

2. Heartbleed Bug (2014)

Incident:

Heartbleed bug allowed attackers to exploit a vulnerability in the implementation of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol. It exposed sensitive data, including usernames, passwords and cryptographic keys.

Response:

After the vulnerability was known, organizations started assessing their systems for any flaws. They started applying patches to affected versions of OpenSSL. They reissues security certificates and they advised users to change the passwords. The incident caused starting of widespread effort to improve the security of critical software and increased awareness about the importance of software security.

Risk assessment is crucial is software testing and it gives us numerous benefits. Some of them are mentioned below.

1. Early Issue Identification

• Risk assessment helps in early identification of risks, vulnerabilities and threats in the software.
• This makes developers to address them actively. It saves unnecessary time which will be required to identify the issue after the product is delivered.

2. Cost Savings

• By identifying and solving the issue at early stage, the team can save much money from rework to be done once the software is in the market.

3. Faster Time to Market

• By addressing potential risks during development, software teams can reduce delays and expedite the release of the product.
• This is especially important in competitive markets where time to market is critical.

4. Improved Quality Assurance

• Risk assessment allows thorough observation of software’s quality.
• By identifying and rectifying any potential risk, the overall quality of the software can be improved.

5. Compliance Assurance

• Compliance with the standard regulations are necessary.
• Risk assessment allows early identification of the issue and addressing at the right time in development phase ensures that product meets the standards set by the regulatory bodies.

There are few challenges that are associated with Risk Assessment that are as follows:

1. Uncertainty and Incomplete Information

• Lack of complete information or uncertainty about potential risks can make it difficult to conduct better risk assessments.
• It is true when dealing with emerging risks or in situations where there is limited past data.

2. Interconnected Risks

• Risks are sometimes interconnected and the occurrence of one risk can trigger others.
• Assessing these interdependencies and understanding how risks interact can be complex and challenging.

3. Quantification of Risks

• Assigning quantitative values to risks such as the probability of occurrence or the financial impact can be challenging.
• Some risks may be difficult to measure precisely, which lead to uncertainties in risk quantification.

4. Resource Constraints

• Limited resources including time budget and skilled person, can hinder the process of risk assessments.
• Organizations may face challenges in conducting comprehensive risk assessments, leading to difficulties.

5. Dynamic and Evolving Threat Landscape

• The threat landscape is constantly evolving as the technology is growing.
• Keeping up with these dynamic changing risks can be challenging. Also the prediction of how the future threats will look like require constant vigilance and study.

In this article, we explained the importance of a security risk assessment and described some of the key methods covered in a risk assessment. We also found out that why risk assessment is beneficial and how can it affect the quality of software product. It is crucial to acknowledge the challenges faced during risk assessment process. In conclusion, we know that risk assessment is not one time activity but rather a iterative process.

What are types of risk assessment?

1. Quantitative Risk Assessments.
2. Qualitative Risk Assessments.
3. Semi-quantitative Risk Assessments.
4. Generic Risk Assessment.
5. Site-Specific Risk Assessment.
6. Asset-Based Risk Assessments.
7. Vulnerability-Based Risk Assessments.
8. Threat-Based Risk Assessments.

How to do a risk assessment?

1. Identify risks.
2. Assess the risks.
3. Control the risks.
4. Record your findings.
5. Review the controls.

What are the two main types of risk?

1. Systematic risk
2. Unsystematic risk.