CRITICALSTART® Risk Assessments

Gain proactive insights to power data-driven cyber risk reduction.

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Get started in minutes: Free Quick Start Risk Assessments with peer benchmarking

In today’s volatile IT environments, organizations need to know just how well their security strategy stacks up against mounting threats.

Do you have the right tools in place to keep your organization safe? How does your security program measure up to your competitors?

Critical Start Risk Assessments give you a clear picture of your risk profile and benchmark your data against industry peers. With clear dashboards and reports, you’ll gain the insight you need to prioritize your next steps toward security improvement!

Ready to get started? Answer 15 questions to rapidly identify gaps in controls, policies, and procedures and compare your security posture against industry peers.

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Get Clarity on Your Cyber Risk Posture

Generate a cycle of continuous improvement that’s risk-aware and data-driven.

Lead with a Data-Driven Approach to Cyber-Risk Reduction

Use risk assessments as the baseline for cyber health and constantly move the needle toward security maturity.

Create a risk-informed roadmap with stack-ranked recommendations for improvements.

Draw on real-time and historical insights to illustrate security maturity advancements over time.

Know where your organization ranks in cyber risk management vs. industry peers.

Create detailed reports that demonstrate the value of security investments and justify budget requests.


Multiple risk and management and compliance frameworks

In addition to NIST CSF 1.1, CIS Critical Security Controls v8, and NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 now available, assessment questionnaires will continue to be released to customers at no additional cost, including NIST CSF 2.0, NIST 800-53, NISTIR 8183 Rev. 1, ISO 27001, and more.

(Did you know Critical Start is the only MDR provider accredited for the CIS Controls Framework?)


Track and measure your progress toward security maturity

Understand and demonstrate how your organization’s security posture has improved over time.

Compare your risk profile and peer benchmarking at each step to ensure you are making the right strategic decisions.

Keep track of audit information with a centralized document repository that allows you to attach:

  • Supporting evidence for every question
  • Lists of assets in scope
  • Policy documentation to support your answers


Prioritize recommendations for improvements

Focus on fixing risks that represent the greatest potential for business impact.

Use recommendations as data points to justify budget requests.

Cybersecurity risk assessments made easy

Critical Start simplifies risk analysis with a flexible, SaaS-based Risk Assessments. Choose a high-level Quick Start or detailed NIST CSF questionnaire. Follow easy-to-understand guided assessments, attach evidence, and assign reviewers. Import past assessments to normalize data and consolidate analysis. Then, see your risk assessments come to life through user-friendly dashboards and rich reports.

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Strategic insights for security leaders

Holistic dashboards visualize risk posture through multiple lenses.

Stack-ranked recommendations help you decide the best course of action to reduce risk.

Trends identify progress made and gaps to address.

Findings provide data to justify budgets and headcount.

Rich reports give executives, board members, and auditors the data they need to track security efforts against organizational goals.

The power of peer benchmarking

Security maturity is a key component of customer trust. Do you know how well your security strategy stacks up against the competition?


Make security a key competitive advantage

Assess your organization’s strengths and weaknesses against industry peers, broken down by the demographics that matter to you.

Prioritize remediation based on peer standards and demonstrate your commitment to security for your customers.

Watch Our Video
eBook

Risk Assessments: The Hidden Key to Continuous Security Improvement

We dive into how Managed Cyber Risk Reduction (MCRR) can significantly boost your cybersecurity efforts. Unlike traditional methods, Critical Start’s Risk Assessments use a continuous, dynamic approach to keep your security up-to-date and aligned with the latest frameworks.

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Whitepaper

Redefining Cyber Risk Assessments for Tangible Outcomes

Learn how security leaders are using a proactive, risk-based approach to assess their cyber risk and combat evolving threats.

Download whitepaper
Webinar

The Power of Risk Assessment

Watch our webinar recording with Chris Carlson, CPO, and Randy Watkins, CTO, as they discuss how risk assessment transforms risk management for security leaders, and how to harness industry peer benchmarking to gauge your organization’s cyber risk resilience. They also dive into our Cyber Risk Landscape Peer Report, offering a fresh perspective on the terrain ahead.

Download whitepaper

    Choose the Risk Assessments Tier That is Right for You

    Whether you just want a quick look into how your security posture stacks up, or you are ready to start using Risk Assessments as a foundational element of your strategic decision-making process, Critical Start has the right tool for you.

    If you need…

    • A quick understanding of your security maturity
    • Insights into where your organization ranks against industry peers
    • A list of prioritized activities you can use to reduce risk
    • The ability to track risk assessment responses over time
    • A risk assessment questionnaire that only takes a few minutes of you time to complete

    Then Free Quick Start Risk Assessments is for you.

    Get Started Now

    If you also need…

    • Easy management of ongoing assessments to track alignment across one or many industry frameworks (i.e., NIST CSF, CIC CSC, NST SP, ISO, etc.)
    • Normalization and automated analysis of existing/historical assessment data that is currently contained in spreadsheets
    • Rigorous and scheduled risk assessment data gathering practices
    • Reduced possibility of human error during in-depth assessments

    You’ll want Risk Assessments Essentials.

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    Why Critical Start

    Start with Risk Assessments and move meaningfully toward full risk management with a complement of managed cyber risk reduction solutions.

    Improve security program effectiveness

    Build your strategy based on data, with risk profiles mapped against NIST CSF guidelines and industry peer benchmarks.

    Make data-informed decisions

    Prioritize security efforts and inform budget decisions with empirical evidence and stack-ranked recommendations.

    Maximize the value of assessment data

    Import external and past assessments and compare with self-assessments, industry standards, and peer benchmarks.

    Track and manage risk reduction

    Start from a baseline of data to rapidly conduct risk assessment updates and see visual evidence of improvement over time.