Data breaches can cause catastrophe for the reputation of an organization. It can subject to loss of business, lawsuits, and a flurry of investigations with insurmountable reputational damage. In addition to adhering with the compliance regulations, enterprises need to work on the intricate problems that cannot be solved by technology alone.

Data breaches can seldom be completely eliminated, so the companies must come up with strategies that can manage and mitigate the risks of data breaches. The core principle of cybersecurity is to keep the information available, confidential, and integral, but with changing threat landscapes, the system needs to be continually monitored.

Most of the attacks are profit-oriented, and they choose weaker targets to gain more profit. Cybercriminals move on to other companies if the cost of the attack is higher than the actual value of the information. One way to look at the cybersecurity is to invest more smartly and efficiently in risk management solutions.

Risk, in a nutshell, can be understood as the measurement of the probability of an unwanted situation multiplied by its potential impact. Once the cost of remediation of information is calculated, it can be categorized into four quadrants:  high risk and low remediation cost, low risk and high remediation cost, low risk and low remediation cost, and high risk and high remediation cost. The information in high risk and low remediation costs should be fixed on a priority as it can provide a high return on investment, and can save an organization from reputational damage and interruption in operations. The risks in the quadrants where high cost is involved cannot be eliminated completely, but it can be mitigated to a large extent with proper analysis and an innovative approach.

A plausible approach to avoid risk is to collect only those information that is required for the business process. Companies need to have sufficient infrastructure for making an effective plan to mitigate risks. Enterprises need to create contingency and incident response plan with various teams including leadership, information security, engineering, communication, customer relations and so on. The leadership in a company should be aware of the risks, and they should have an effective risk management solution to protect their businesses.