Understanding Cybersecurity Risk Management for NYC Businesses and Nonprofits

Understanding Cybersecurity Risk Management for NYC Businesses and Nonprofits

According to Tech.co’s Impact of Technology on the Workplace Report 2024,40% of business leaders believe that their organizations’ performance will be highly affected by cyber threats in 2024. Furthermore, 11% of these same business leaders are not sure if their companies experienced a data breach in 2023.

Globally, cybercrime cost $8.44 trillion in 2022, and by 2027, the cost will climb to a jaw-dropping $23.84 trillion according to data published by the World Economic Forum. Business owners in NYC must implement cybersecurity risk management now to avoid becoming part of this statistic tomorrow. Tech Alliance offers network security services that can keep businesses safe, save money, and provide unparalleled peace of mind.

What Is Cybersecurity Risk Management?

According to IBM, a leading global technology company, cybersecurity risk management involves the identification, prioritization, management, and monitoring of risks as they apply to information networks and systems. Most modern NYC businesses and nonprofits rely on information technology (IT) to perform their key functions. Simply existing in the digital world makes these organizations more vulnerable to cyber threats, cybercrime, employee mistakes, and even natural disasters, which can cause serious harm to data, the organizations’ reputations, and revenue.

Although it is impossible to guarantee complete safety, cybersecurity risk management programs can reduce the likelihood of cybercrime. Fortunately, organizations can implement risk management through an outsourced IT project to save time and money.

SEC Cybersecurity Requirements for Businesses and Nonprofits

The Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, is an independent federal regulatory agency that helps to protect investors and ensures that security markets operate in a fair and orderly way. In 2024, the SEC implemented the “Cybersecurity Risk Management, Strategy, Governance, and Incident Disclosure” policy, which is designed to standardize the way public companies disclose cybersecurity incidents.

These new rules require companies to disclose all material cybersecurity incidents they experience.  They also require companies to disclose information about their cybersecurity risk management strategies and governance annually. The SEC’s rules apply to publicly-traded companies, and they exist to ensure that investors have the data they need to make more informed choices.

Cybersecurity Risk Management Process

The four-phase process for cybersecurity risk management includes risk framing, security assessment, risk mitigation, and monitoring. Each of these phases ensures that networks are as secure as possible.

Risk Framing

Risk framing determines the overall context of risk management by showing how an organization currently manages cybersecurity risk. The information gathered during the risk framing phase is then used to develop a risk management strategy that specifically addresses the best ways to assess, respond to, and monitor risk in the future.

Security Assessment

During the security assessment phase, companies evaluate their overall network posture by finding and fixing vulnerabilities. This often includes penetration testing, a process in which a cybersecurity professional attempts to “ethically hack” a company’s network in an effort to pinpoint those vulnerabilities. Regular security assessments can be utilized to ensure that a company’s policies and networks are up to date and suggest recommendations to improve security in the future.

Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation

Cybersecurity risk mitigation involves developing a strategy that will reduce the risk of a cybersecurity threat – or even reduce the impact such a threat would have if successful. It includes developing and implementing security policies for things such as firewalls, network access controls, patch management, and risk assessment scheduling.

Cybersecurity Monitoring

Finally, ongoing cybersecurity monitoring is essential for keeping watch over the entire network to identify threats and attacks as they occur. Many NYC companies outsource cybersecurity monitoring to a third party that observes traffic, activity logs, devices, servers, and other network services and hardware to respond proactively to potential anomalies. With proper monitoring, it is possible to completely block attacks, prevent damage, and stop data loss before it occurs.

Why Cybersecurity Risk Management Matters

Cybersecurity risk management is vital to the success of NYC businesses and nonprofits. In fact, it can be closely associated with five major benefits:

  • Regulatory Compliance: Organizations in NYC and across the country must adhere to numerous cybersecurity standards in order to comply with several regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act, and the 2002 Homeland Security Act, which includes the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA).
  • Improved Decision-Making: When organizations can better understand inherent cybersecurity risks and their potential consequences, they can make better and more informed decisions about how to prevent, mitigate, and respond to those risks.
  • Better Security: Implementing cybersecurity risk management protocols reduce the overall likelihood of cyberattacks, but when a breach does occur, they can also reduce the damage caused. As organizations identify and respond to threats, they can begin to protect their networks more proactively, which further enhances security.
  • More Visibility: With better risk management comes better visibility into an organization’s overall cybersecurity posture. When organizations have an exceptional and transparent point of view, they are better prepared to respond to future threats.
  • Efficient Security Protocols: Finally, cybersecurity risk management helps identify and focus on the greatest risks to a particular organization. This allows for better and more efficient prioritization and asset allocation.


Cybercrime is here to stay, and many NYC businesses and nonprofits are woefully underprepared for attacks. If you are concerned about your organization’s cybercrime preparedness, contact Tech Alliance today to learn more about our network security services. After all, you shouldn’t worry about your cybersecurity and IT systems. They should just work!

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