Most small businesses find out where they were exposed after the breach, from the invoice. A cybersecurity risk assessment moves that discovery to before anything happens. In one to two weeks, it checks the places attackers actually get in (email, backups, devices, logins, the network) and hands you a plain-English report with the fixes ranked by risk. This post explains what the assessment is, what it finds in most businesses, and how to put the results to work.
What is a cybersecurity risk assessment?
A cybersecurity risk assessment is a structured review of how your business could be breached and how badly it would hurt. We look at your systems, your network, your cloud accounts and your data, find the weak points, and work out what a successful attack would cost you in downtime, recovery and lost trust. The result is a list of what is most at risk and what to fix first, written for the owner, not the engineer.
Why your business needs a cybersecurity risk assessment
- Find the weak points first. Spot the gaps in your systems before someone else does.
- Protect your data. Keep client, patient and financial information out of the wrong hands.
- Avoid the big bill. Downtime, legal fees, ransom demands and lost customers cost far more than closing the gap would have.
- Show your clients you take it seriously. A documented review is proof to customers, partners and insurers that security is handled.
- Meet your requirements. The report helps you meet HIPAA, FTC Safeguards, PCI-DSS, GLBA and cyber insurance requirements, and shows where the paperwork is missing.
What the assessment covers
The Galactica CyberSecurity risk assessment reviews ten areas. Each one gets a rating and a plain-language explanation of what good looks like.
- Email. Filtering, spoofing protection and the settings that stop fake-invoice scams.
- Backups. Whether copies exist offline, and when a restore was last tested.
- Devices and endpoints. What protects each computer, and whether anyone is watching it.
- Access and MFA. Who can log in to what, and whether multi-factor authentication is on everywhere.
- Patching. How quickly updates reach computers and servers.
- Network. Firewall, Wi-Fi and the way the office is segmented.
- Incident response. Whether a written plan exists and whether it has been tested.
- Policies and compliance gaps. The written policies your industry expects, and where they are missing.
- Cyber insurance readiness. Whether you could answer the carrier’s questionnaire truthfully today.
- Staff awareness. Training, phishing simulations and how your team handles a suspicious email.
How Galactica CyberSecurity can help
We run the assessment for businesses with 5 to 100 employees across every industry we serve, from medical and dental practices to construction companies. It takes one to two weeks from kickoff to findings. You get a risk report with every finding rated and explained, a prioritized fix list, a compliance gap summary against the requirements that apply to you, and the evidence auditors and cyber insurance carriers ask for. If you move to a managed cybersecurity plan afterward, the fixes are built into it.
Take action before it’s too late
Don’t let your business be an easy target. The assessment is a paid engagement, scoped on a free 15-minute Cyber Strategy Session with Tanner. He will ask how your business runs, tell you where you are most likely exposed, and quote the assessment if it makes sense for you.