How to Perform an Information Security Gap Analysis

The ever-changing cyber threat landscape demands organizations to reevaluate their security controls continuously, as yesterday’s measures may no longer be sufficient. Cyberattacks occur frequently, and a breach can lead to the exposure of clients’ sensitive data, resulting in financial penalties and reputational damage. In such situations, conducting an information security gap analysis becomes crucial. It allows organizations to identify weaknesses in their network security controls, ensuring a robust and effective network. By comparing existing methods with industry best practices, the information security gap analysis reveals areas that require improvement and provides insights into implementing the right structure and controls.

What is Gap Analysis in Cyber Security

An information security gap analysis, also referred to as IT security gap analysis, is a thorough evaluation that assists organizations in determining the disparity between their existing information security measures and the specific requirements of their industry. Conducting a security gap analysis enables an understanding of the cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities present within the organization, empowering them to address and resolve these gaps in their security effectively.

Performing a gap analysis for cyber security can yield significant benefits, but its success depends on proper execution. Let’s explore the steps involved in conducting an effective cybersecurity gap analysis.

Gap Analysis in Information Security

Here are the steps for performing a security gap analysis:

Step 1: Select an Industry-Standard Security Framework

Choosing a recognized security framework is crucial as it provides the foundational best practices against which you can assess your own security program. For instance, the widely-used ISO/EIC – 27002 standard covers critical security areas such as risk assessment, access control, change management, and physical security.

While a capable security team can conduct the gap analysis, seeking an independent third party to evaluate your security plan is advisable. External consultants often spot gaps that may be overlooked by those immersed in the network’s daily operations. In certain cases, industry compliance standards like HIPAA and PCI may even mandate involving an outside consultant to ensure adherence to state and federal regulations.

Step 2: Evaluate People and Processes

Once the framework and assessment approach are selected, gather relevant information about your systems and conduct interviews to gain a better understanding of the organization’s key objectives.

Thorough interviews with key stakeholders, as well as pertinent departments such as HR and legal, are essential. This process includes engaging the leadership team, IT staff, security administrators (if applicable), and personnel responsible for network, server, or workstation management.

Objective: Obtain Comprehensive IT Environment Insights

The main aim is to gather extensive information about your IT environment, application inventory, organizational charts, policies, processes, and other relevant details.

This enables the discovery of existing security policies, an understanding of your organization’s future direction over the next three to five years, and the identification of associated security risks.

Addressing Human Behavior to Reduce Risks

Many risks faced by company networks are attributable to human actions, such as inadvertently clicking on phishing emails, inadequate leadership training, or deliberate acts of sabotage by disgruntled employees. Addressing human behavior is crucial to mitigating threats to data.

Key Staff Contributions to Implementing Controls

Key staff members play a vital role in providing insights into the implementation of various controls, such as access management for new hires and terminations, adherence to role-based access policies, change procedures, approvals, back-out plans for potential issues, and staff training to stay updated on evolving security risks.

Step 3: Data Gathering – Evaluating Security Program Effectiveness

Data gathering aims to assess the efficiency of your current security program within the technical architecture. During this step, it is essential to compare best-practice standards like ISO 27002 or NIST 800-53 and relevant requirements against your organizational controls. Conducting samples of network devices, servers, and applications validates gaps and weaknesses. Additionally, reviewing automated security controls, incident response processes, communications protocols, and log files provides crucial insights.

This comprehensive data collection paints a clear picture of your technical environment, existing protections, and overall security effectiveness.

Step 4: Analysis – Assessing Security Program Effectiveness

The final step involves conducting an in-depth analysis of your security program. If you opt to engage a third-party partner for the gap analysis, they should benchmark your organization’s security program against industry best practices throughout the data-gathering process. Leveraging our years of experience in security evaluations, we correlate findings from the gap analysis across all aspects to create a concise picture of your IT security profile. This assessment highlights strengths and areas needing improvement, assigning a score (graded zero to four) that offers a non-technical evaluation of your organization’s security program.

With this valuable information, we can help you design a tailored security roadmap that considers risks, staffing, budget requirements, and timelines for implementing the recommended security enhancements.

Performing Gap Analysis with Mobiz

By utilizing cybersecurity services by Mobiz, your organization’s IT security team can conduct a thorough evaluation of its security program. Mobiz facilitates this process by providing automated cloud-based questionnaires through a secure and centralized platform, effectively reducing the questionnaire cycle by 50%. Through this efficient approach, you can readily identify security gaps for your organization and third-party vendors, streamlining vulnerability identification and remediation.

Final Thoughts

Conducting an information security gap analysis is vital for organizations to assess their network security controls effectively. By comparing existing practices with industry standards, weaknesses can be identified, enabling the implementation of necessary improvements. Addressing human behavior and data gathering are essential elements, leading to a comprehensive understanding of the security program’s effectiveness. Leveraging the analysis results, organizations can create a tailored security roadmap to mitigate risks and enhance protection. In a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape, continuous security evaluation is crucial for safeguarding sensitive data, maintaining trust, and ensuring resilience against potential attacks.