Information Asset Inventory Management

Systematic management of organization data and physical asset inventories

Do you know where your data is? The importance of Information Asset Inventories

Birmingham Consulting provides information asset inventory management services for businesses as a key to their information security strategy. Information asset inventories are comprehensive lists of all the data an organization stores, processes, or transmits.

“It’s 10:00pm. Do you know where your children are?” was a familiar TV announcement for a long time. For businesses, it’s now, “Do you know where your data is?”.

Information asset inventories include every system, cloud service, and application your business uses. It also includes details about the location, security measures, and controls for each asset. The purpose is to identify every piece of data, much like how financial accounting tracks assets for an organization’s financial health. But in this case, it’s for data protection.

Additionally, inventories should document the ownership and management of each asset, its value, and its importance to the organization’s operations. Maintaining an up-to-date inventory is crucial, as it ensures the list reflects any changes within the organization over time.

Information Asset Inventories include:

Financial information – paper and electronic
HR information – paper and electronic
Proprietary or other sensitive information – paper and electronic
Electronic devices capable of accessing and/or storing information

Information Asset Inventories: Book a consultation to learn more about how we can manage your data and physical asset inventories

When it comes to information security, you can trust Birmingham Consulting to keep you armed with the best protective measures for your business. Book an information security consultation with us to find out how our services can augment your plans, tools, procedures and policies. Click below or call (289) 895-8948 to schedule.

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Construction worker and consultant discussing information asset inventories in a scrap yard, with equipment and materials in the background

FAQ’s about information asset inventories and their management:

Why your business needs an information asset inventory

Information asset management plays a crucial role in incident response planning, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning.

An IA helps identify potential gaps in your information security strategy and aids risk assessments by highlighting areas of vulnerability that could lead to a data breach. It also serves as evidence during compliance audits, demonstrating that you’ve taken the necessary steps to identify and safeguard sensitive data, which can help prevent fines and penalties.

The initial step in these processes is to identify the critical systems, networks, databases, applications, data flows, and other essential components that require protection. Without knowing what needs safeguarding or where it is located, it’s impossible to effectively plan how to protect it.

Here’s what information asset inventories include

Information assets differ in terms of importance and type, and they are often interconnected rather than simply existing as a static list. The loss of one asset can affect the value of others. For example, flooding a server room could damage both the servers and the data stored on them.

Asset inventories should be comprehensive and include all the necessary information to effectively manage and mitigate risks if they arise. The more detailed your inventory, the better prepared your business will be to respond swiftly and resolve any incidents. Birmingham Consulting includes as much information as possible.

Information asset inventories cover a number of details, including:

Software and Cloud-Based Tools:

Service: Name and type of service (e.g., Microsoft Word).
Owner: Department or individuals using the application and those with privileged or restricted access.
Version: The specific version being used.
Licensing: The amount and types of licenses, including user assignments and license keys.
Installation Details: Installation date and the person responsible for the installation.
Expiration: License expiration dates.

Hardware:

Type: The asset’s category, such as laptop, server, or router.
Manufacturer Information: Brand, model, and serial number.
Specifications: Details on capacity, processing speed, or other relevant attributes.
Users: The individuals who have access to or use the equipment.
Configuration Settings: Any restrictions, setup requirements, or configurations that could impact future projects or usage.

For All Assets:

Catalog the operations or functions that rely on each asset.
Rank the risk level to the business associated with each asset.
Indicate whether the hardware or software is used for processing sensitive data or personally identifiable information (PII).
Identify key experts who should be contacted in case the asset fails or requires urgent support.

Information security is the inclusive management of technical, physical and administrative processes and tools.

People often use the terms information security and cyber security interchangeably, but key differences exist between the two.

Information security, also known as InfoSec, is managing risk to the Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of information through Administrative, Physical and Technical controls. It involves the processes and tools implemented to safeguard information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction. Therefore, it encompasses a variety of security tools, solutions, and processes designed to safeguard information across devices and locations. Together, these help businesses and individuals defend against cyber attacks and other forms of cyber incidents.

Whereas, cyber security is a subfield of information security that focuses only on the technical controls involved in defending computer systems and networks.

This means that information security is crucial because it addresses all aspects of protecting a business from both the occurrence and the impact of a cyber incident. For instance, ensuring that a business’ cyber insurance coverage and premiums correctly match their risk profile.

Therefore, by implementing strong information security, including compliance with your own policies and procedures, you can significantly reduce your cyber risk.

Learn more: What is information security

Quantify your cyber risk and get your total cyber liability – zero cost.

We want to help businesses quantify their cyber risk so that they feel confident in their cyber insurance coverage. So, we created a comprehensive and anonymous Cyber Liability Calculator for businesses to be able to estimate the financial impact from a cyber incident – a key first step in obtaining the right insurance policy for your risk profile.

Estimated results include:

Total potential liability
Ransom demand and payout
Remediation cost per industry statistics
Email fraud cost
Legal costs associated with 3rd-Party Liability
Total number of Personally Identifiable Records (PII)
1st-Party Liability and 3rd-Party Liability

Information risk assessments play a vital role in an organization’s overall risk management strategy.

There are multiple reasons to conduct an information security assessment:

Reduction of Long-Term Costs: By identifying and addressing potential threats and vulnerabilities, you can prevent or lessen security incidents, thereby saving your organization money and protecting its reputation over time.

Provides a Template for Future Assessments: Effective initial assessments establish a solid foundation for future evaluations, creating repeatable processes that remain consistent even with staff changes.

Enhanced Organizational Insight: Understanding your organization’s vulnerabilities helps pinpoint areas that require improvement.

Prevention of Data Breaches: Avoiding data breaches is crucial, as they can result in significant financial loss and damage to your organization’s reputation.

Avoidance of Regulatory Issues: In any industry, your business may be required to follow certain rules and regulations regarding information security. For example, businesses that handle sensitive customer data, or, alternatively, works with another business or organization that does. Therefore, complying with those regulations is essential to success.

Minimization of Application Downtime: Ensuring that internal and customer-facing systems are consistently operational is vital for smooth business operations.

Prevention of Data Loss: Protecting against the theft of trade secrets, code, or other critical information is necessary to prevent competitive disadvantage.

Brace for financial impact with our Cyber Liability Calculator

Estimate the financial impact to your business from a cyber incident with our free and anonymous Cyber Liability Calculator.

Results include email fraud, ransom demand, downtime cost, remediation cost per industry statistics, 1st-Party liability, number of Personally Identifiable Records, Third-Party liability, legal costs associated with Third-Party liability and more!

Give it a try