Essential Steps for an Effective Security Threat Risk Assessment

A security company performs a detailed risk assessment to understand a business's specific security needs and justify their service recommendations. This comprehensive evaluation goes far beyond a simple checklist, analyzing all potential threats, vulnerabilities, and the potential impact of a security incident. 

Lyon Security offers a cost-free risk assessment service

The assessment typically involves five key phases

Phase 1: Preparation and asset identification

The security company first collaborates with the business to set clear objectives, scope, and parameters for the assessment.

• Define scope and objectives: The company determines the areas to be assessed, which could be the entire organization, a single location, or specific high-value departments. Objectives may include enhancing safety, ensuring regulatory compliance, or protecting against specific threats.

  
  

• Identify and value assets: The security team creates a comprehensive inventory of the business's assets. This includes:

  
  

  • Physical assets: Buildings, offices, equipment, inventory, and other property.

  • Intangible assets: Intellectual property, trade secrets, client data, and brand reputation.

  • Human assets: Employees, executives, and clients.

    
    

• Determine asset criticality: The company classifies each asset based on its value and importance to business operations. Losing a critical asset, like a security officer or a customer of the business, would have a far higher impact than losing a non-critical one like a glass door or a copy machine. 

  
  

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  Security staff member

  
  

• Phase 2: Threat and vulnerability analysis

With a complete asset list, the security company identifies what could cause harm and how a threat could exploit weaknesses. 

• Threat identification: The security team identifies both internal and external threats that could harm the business. This includes:

  
  

  • External threats: Terrorists, rioters, thieves, burglars, vandals, competitors, and natural disasters.

  • Internal threats: Disgruntled or negligent employees, former staff, or contractors, fire, bomb, gas leak.

    
    

• Vulnerability analysis: The team looks for weaknesses in the business's current defenses that a threat could exploit. A vulnerability assessment typically involves:

  
  

  • Physical security assessment: A site walk-through to inspect entry points, lighting, access controls, and surveillance systems.

  • Procedural review: Examining existing policies, such as visitor logs, key controls, and emergency plans. 

    
    

Phase 3: Risk evaluation and scoring

This phase combines the threat and vulnerability analysis to calculate a risk score for each potential scenario. 

• Analyze likelihood: Based on collected data, the company estimates how likely a specific threat is to occur. Factors considered include location crime rates, industry threats, and historical incident data.

  
  

• Determine impact: The company evaluates the potential financial, operational, and reputational damage if a threat successfully exploits a vulnerability. This is often framed in terms of business disruption or monetary loss.

  
  

• Calculate risk rating: The company uses a risk matrix to assign a numerical or categorical rating (e.g., high, medium, low) for each risk by combining its likelihood and impact.

  
  

• Prioritize risks: Findings are ranked by their risk level, ensuring that the highest-priority concerns are addressed first. 

  
  
  
  

  

  Risk Assessment Matrix

  
  

Phase 4: Developing a security plan

The company uses the prioritized list of risks to develop and recommend a customized security plan.

• Mitigation strategy: The plan outlines security controls and measures designed to reduce the identified risks. This can include a layered approach that prioritizes the most effective measures:

  
  

  • Elimination: Removing a risk entirely.

  • Engineering controls: Installing new technology like advanced analytical cameras, on & off site CCTV monitoring or access control systems.

  • Administrative controls: Updating security policies, procedures, and employee training.

  • Protective equipment: Providing safety equipment where necessary.

    
    

    

    
    

• Cost-benefit analysis: The security company helps the business understand the return on investment for their security spending by showing how the recommended controls reduce the potential financial impact of a security incident. 

  
  

Phase 5: Documentation and review

The final stage involves creating a formal report and establishing a plan for ongoing monitoring. 

Risk assessment reports

• Produce a risk assessment report: This document summarizes the findings, including the identified assets, threats, vulnerabilities, and prioritized risk levels. It provides a clear, actionable roadmap for the business to follow.

  
  

• Continuous monitoring: Security threats are constantly evolving. The security company will recommend regular follow-up assessments to ensure the plan remains effective and adapts to new threats, business changes, or new technologies.

At Lyon Security, we offer a cost-free, comprehensive risk assessment service for residential estates, commercial, industrial and retail industries in the Cape Town area.

Contact our office: 021 300 6895

Email: mark@lyonsecurity.co.za

Website: www.lyonsecurity.co.za