Automation Plays a Significant Role in Systems
Inventory
The risk identification process includes ongoing procedures for information security professionals to apply in order to discover and eliminate potential and active threats in company systems. In order to understand which technologies need protection, information security professionals perform an inventory of company assets and determine the policies and procedures needed in order to uphold security maintenance. In circumstances in which security staff does not perform an inventory or mistakenly excludes particular technologies from inventory, those technologies may not be protected when staff implements policy. An appropriate inventory involves both digital storage and hard copy files like information stored in cabinets and desks. This also includes information on hard drives, flash drives and mobile devices. Policies will determine where employees should store and access information.
Automation
In order to make the inventory process more efficient, many companies use automated asset inventory systems throughout the risk identification process. The program imports inventory lists into a database, or allows for its exportation for revision and storage by another program. Asset inventory systems make the risk identification and security maintenance process more efficient by providing information security professionals and upper management with updated information in a manageable and cost-effective manner. The programs are more efficient than humans in regards to its ability to perform calculations of loss and projections of costs.
Benefits
Asset inventory systems save companies time and money, allowing them to devote resources in other areas of information security management. By automating the recording of inventory and risk management data, information security professionals can generate accurate reports which help organizations make sound decisions regarding security policy and strategies. Automation makes the inventory process quicker and less labor intensive for staff. It provides a proven method for acquiring quantitative information that helps information security professionals make sound policy and procedures for handling risk management and information security maintenance.