{"title":"Cyber threat: its origins and consequence and the use of qualitative and quantitative methods in cyber risk assessment","authors":"James R. Crotty, E. Daniel","doi":"10.1108/aci-07-2022-0178","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"PurposeConsumers increasingly rely on organisations for online services and data storage while these same institutions seek to digitise the information assets they hold to create economic value. Cybersecurity failures arising from malicious or accidental actions can lead to significant reputational and financial loss which organisations must guard against. Despite having some critical weaknesses, qualitative cybersecurity risk analysis is widely used in developing cybersecurity plans. This research explores these weaknesses, considers how quantitative methods might address the constraints and seeks the insights and recommendations of leading cybersecurity practitioners on the use of qualitative and quantitative cyber risk assessment methods.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based upon a literature review and thematic analysis of in-depth qualitative interviews with 16 senior cybersecurity practitioners representing financial services and advisory companies from across the world.FindingsWhile most organisations continue to rely on qualitative methods for cybersecurity risk assessment, some are also actively using quantitative approaches to enhance their cybersecurity planning efforts. The primary recommendation of this paper is that organisations should adopt both a qualitative and quantitative cyber risk assessment approach.Originality/valueThis work provides the first insight into how senior practitioners are using and combining qualitative and quantitative cybersecurity risk assessment, and highlights the need for in-depth comparisons of these two different approaches.","PeriodicalId":37348,"journal":{"name":"Applied Computing and Informatics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":12.3000,"publicationDate":"2022-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Computing and Informatics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/aci-07-2022-0178","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
PurposeConsumers increasingly rely on organisations for online services and data storage while these same institutions seek to digitise the information assets they hold to create economic value. Cybersecurity failures arising from malicious or accidental actions can lead to significant reputational and financial loss which organisations must guard against. Despite having some critical weaknesses, qualitative cybersecurity risk analysis is widely used in developing cybersecurity plans. This research explores these weaknesses, considers how quantitative methods might address the constraints and seeks the insights and recommendations of leading cybersecurity practitioners on the use of qualitative and quantitative cyber risk assessment methods.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based upon a literature review and thematic analysis of in-depth qualitative interviews with 16 senior cybersecurity practitioners representing financial services and advisory companies from across the world.FindingsWhile most organisations continue to rely on qualitative methods for cybersecurity risk assessment, some are also actively using quantitative approaches to enhance their cybersecurity planning efforts. The primary recommendation of this paper is that organisations should adopt both a qualitative and quantitative cyber risk assessment approach.Originality/valueThis work provides the first insight into how senior practitioners are using and combining qualitative and quantitative cybersecurity risk assessment, and highlights the need for in-depth comparisons of these two different approaches.
期刊介绍:
Applied Computing and Informatics aims to be timely in disseminating leading-edge knowledge to researchers, practitioners and academics whose interest is in the latest developments in applied computing and information systems concepts, strategies, practices, tools and technologies. In particular, the journal encourages research studies that have significant contributions to make to the continuous development and improvement of IT practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries. By doing so, the journal attempts to bridge the gap between the academic and industrial community, and therefore, welcomes theoretically grounded, methodologically sound research studies that address various IT-related problems and innovations of an applied nature. The journal will serve as a forum for practitioners, researchers, managers and IT policy makers to share their knowledge and experience in the design, development, implementation, management and evaluation of various IT applications. Contributions may deal with, but are not limited to: • Internet and E-Commerce Architecture, Infrastructure, Models, Deployment Strategies and Methodologies. • E-Business and E-Government Adoption. • Mobile Commerce and their Applications. • Applied Telecommunication Networks. • Software Engineering Approaches, Methodologies, Techniques, and Tools. • Applied Data Mining and Warehousing. • Information Strategic Planning and Recourse Management. • Applied Wireless Computing. • Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. • IT Education. • Societal, Cultural, and Ethical Issues of IT. • Policy, Legal and Global Issues of IT. • Enterprise Database Technology.