Role Based Risk Assessments by State2 Security

What are Role Based Risk Assessments

A role-based risk assessment is a process to understand and manage potential risks by focusing on specific job roles within an organisation. It involves identifying critical assets, determining the threats posed by individuals in different roles with access to those assets, assessing the likelihood and potential impact of these threats, and evaluating existing countermeasures. The goal is to develop proportionate and layered security measures to mitigate identified insider risks effectively and ensure that security resources are allocated cost-effectively.

Benefits of an RBRA

An RBRA provides a proactive and systematic approach to managing insider risks and has several advantages: 

Focuses resources:

It directs security resources to the highest-priority risks, ensuring countermeasures are cost-effective and proportionate.

Streamlines access management:

By defining permissions based on roles, organisations can manage user access more efficiently. When an employee changes roles, permissions can be quickly updated.

Enforces least privilege:

The assessment helps enforce the principle of least privilege, ensuring users have only the minimum access needed to perform their job, which limits the potential damage from a compromised account.

Aids compliance and audits:

RBRAs provide a clear, auditable framework for managing access to sensitive data, which simplifies compliance with various regulatory requirements.

Improves onboarding and offboarding:

It simplifies the process of granting and revoking access for new and departing employees, ensuring that access is consistent and removed promptly.