[Blog](/blog) Show links Resources [Blog](/blog) [Breaches](/breaches) [eBooks, reports, & more](/resources) [Events](/events) [News](/news) [Cybersecurity](/category/cybersecurity) Show links Categories [Attack Surface Management](/category/attack-surface-management) [Company News](/category/company-news) [Compliance and Regulations](/category/compliance-and-regulations) [Cybersecurity](/category/cybersecurity) [Data Breaches](/category/data-breaches) [DevOps](/category/devops) [Human Cyber Risk](/category/human-cyber-risk) [Risks and Vulnerabilities](/category/risks-and-vulnerabilities) [Third-Party Risk Management](/category/third-party-risk-management) [Vendor Risk Management](/category/vendor-risk-management) [What is Information Risk Management?](/blog/information-risk-management) Publish date July 4, 2025 {x} minute read # What is Information Risk Management? [Get a demo](/contact-sales) [Free trial](/demo) [Download the PDF guide](/resources/complete-guide-to-data-breaches) [Free trial](/demo) Written by [Abi Tyas Tunggal](/team/abi-tyas-tunggal) Writer and Senior Product Manager at UpGuard. Abi's work has influenced leaders across cybersecurity, technology, and financial services. Reviewed by [Kaushik Sen](/team/kaushik-sen) Chief Marketing Officer Kaushik has a background in software engineering, enterprise solution architecture, and data analytics. He brings a unique, data-driven perspective to cybersecurity education. Table of contents eBook A Complete Guide to Data Breaches Free resource ### A Complete Guide to Data Breaches Learn how to avoid a costly data breach with a comprehensive prevention strategy. [Download now](/resources/complete-guide-to-data-breaches) Information Risk Management (IRM) is a form of risk mitigation through policies, procedures, and technology that reduces the threat of cyber attacks from vulnerabilities and poor data security and from third-party vendors.  In this article, we outline how you can think about and manage your cyber risk from an internal and external perspective to protect your most sensitive data. Additionally, we highlight how your organization can improve your cyber security rating through key processes and security services that can be used to properly secure your own and your customers most valuable data.  ## You Need Information Risk Management Regardless of your [level of risk acceptance](https://www.upguard.com/blog/how-to-perform-a-cyber-risk-analysis), information technology risk management programs are an increasingly important part of enterprise risk management.  In fact, many countries including the United States have introduced government agencies to promote better [cybersecurity](/blog/cyber-security) practices. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's ([NIST](https://www.nist.gov/)) [Cybersecurity Framework](/blog/nist-cybersecurity-framework) "provides a high level taxonomy of cybersecurity outcomes and a methodology to assess and manage those outcomes." There are now regulatory requirements, such as the [General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/how-to-be-gdpr-compliant) or [APRA's CPS 234](https://www.upguard.com/blog/apra-cps-234-information-security-prudential-standard), that mean managing your information systems correctly must be part of your business processes. Companies are increasingly hiring Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) and turning to [cybersecurity software](https://www.upguard.com/) to ensure good decision making and strong security measures for their information assets. ## Cyber Attacks aren't Your Only Problem When organizations think about their threat landscape and cyber risk exposure, they often think about attackers with malicious intent from an outside organization or foreign powers attempting to steal critical assets, valuable trade secrets, other information that is the target of [corporate espionage](/blog/corporate-espionage), or to spread propaganda.  However, [data breaches](https://www.upguard.com/breaches) are increasingly occurring from [residual risks](https://www.upguard.com/blog/residual-risk) like [poorly configured S3 buckets](https://www.upguard.com/blog/check-your-amazon-s3-permissions-someone-will), or poor security practices from [third-party service providers who have inferior information risk management processes](https://www.upguard.com/breaches/attunity-data-leak). To combat this it's important to have [vendor risk assessments](https://www.upguard.com/product/vendorrisk) and [continuous monitoring of data exposures and leaked credentials](https://www.upguard.com/product/breach-risk/threat-monitoring) as part of your risk treatment decision making process.  Risk avoidance isn't enough.  Not only do customers expect data protection from the services they use, the [reputational damage of a data leak is enormous](https://www.upguard.com/breaches/data-leak-hipaa-medico-s3). Not to mention companies and executives may be liable when a data leak does occur. ## Cyber Risk Management Must Be Part of Enterprise Risk Management Every organization should have comprehensive enterprise risk management in place that addresses four categories: 1. **Strategy**: High-level goals aligning and supporting the organization's mission 2. **Operations**: Effective and efficient use of resources 3. **Financial reporting**: Reliability of operational and financial reporting 4. **Compliance**: Compliance with applicable laws and regulations Cyber risk transverses all four categorizes and must be managed in the framework of [information security](/blog/information-security) risk management, regardless of your organization's risk appetite and risk sensitivity.  [Learn how to calculate the risk appetite for your Third-Party Risk Management program.](https://www.upguard.com/blog/risk-appetite-calculation-third-party-risk-management) ## How to Think About Cyber Risk Cyber risk is tied to uncertainty like any form of risk. As such, we should use decision theory to make rational choices about which risks to minimize and which risks to accept under uncertainty.  In general, risk is the product of likelihood times impact giving us a general risk equation of risk = likelihood \* impact.  IT risk specifically can be defined as the product of threat, vulnerability and asset value: Risk = threat \* vulnerability \* asset value ### What is a Threat? A [threat](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cyber-threat) is the possible danger an [exploited](/blog/exploit) vulnerability can cause, such as breaches or other reputational harm. Threats can either be intentional (i.e. hacking) or accidental (e.g. a poorly configured S3 bucket, or possibility of a natural disaster). Think of the threat as the likelihood that a cyber attack will occur. ### What is a Vulnerability? A [vulnerability](https://www.upguard.com/blog/vulnerability) is a threat that can be exploited by an attacker to perform unauthorized actions. To exploit a vulnerability, an attacker must have a tool or technique that can connect to a system's weakness. This is known as the [attack surface](/blog/attack-surface). It's not enough to understand what the vulnerabilities are, and continuously monitor your business for [data exposures, leaked credentials](https://www.upguard.com/product/breach-risk/threat-monitoring) and other cyber threats. The more vulnerabilities your organization has, the higher the risk. ### What is Asset Value? Arguably, the most important element of managing cyber risk is understanding the value of the information you are protecting.  The asset value is the value of the information and it can vary tremendously.  Information like your customer's [personally identifying information (PII)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/personally-identifiable-information-pii) likely has the highest asset value and most extreme consequences. PII is valuable for attackers and there are legal requirements for protecting this data. Not to mention the [reputational damage](https://www.upguard.com/breaches/data-leak-hipaa-medico-s3) that comes from [leaking personal information](https://www.upguard.com/breaches/cloud-leak-alteryx). ## How to Manage Information Security Risk Good news, knowing what information risk management is (as we outlined above) is the first step to improving your organization's cybersecurity. The next step is to establish a clear risk management program, typically set by an organization's leadership. That said, it is important for all levels of an organization to manage information security. Vulnerabilities can come from any employee and it is fundamental to your organization's IT security to continually educate employees to avoid poor security practices that lead to [data breaches](/blog/data-breach). This usually means installing [intrusion detection](https://www.upguard.com/blog/intrusion-detection-system), antivirus software, [two-factor authentication processes](https://www.upguard.com/blog/two-factor-authentication), firewalls, [continuous security monitoring](/blog/continuous-security-monitoring) of data exposures and leaked credentials, as well as [third-party vendor security questionnaires](https://www.upguard.com/product/vendorrisk). Best in class vendor risk management teams who are responsible for working with third and [fourth-party vendors and suppliers](https://www.upguard.com/blog/what-is-fourth-party-risk) monitor and rate their vendor's security performance and[ automate security questionnaires](https://www.upguard.com/product/vendorrisk).  eBook A Complete Guide to Data Breaches Free resource ### A Complete Guide to Data Breaches Learn how to avoid a costly data breach with a comprehensive prevention strategy. [Download now](/resources/complete-guide-to-data-breaches) ## Related posts Learn more about the latest issues in cybersecurity. Attack Surface Management #### [Find Out if You're Exposed on the Dark Web](/blog/find-out-if-youre-exposed-on-the-dark-web) Answer 5 quick questions to predict what a dark web scan will find about your company. Then run the free scan to see your real exposure. [](/team/lance-turner) [Lance Turner](#) October 14, 2026 Data Breaches #### [Your First Dark Web Scan Report, Explained](/blog/your-first-dark-web-scan-report-explained) You scanned your domain. What do the results mean? [](/team/lance-turner) [Lance Turner](#) October 13, 2026 Cybersecurity #### [12 Cybersecurity Horror Stories of 2026 (No Costume Required)](/blog/cybersecurity-horror-stories-2026) A warning ignored once becomes a headline. Read more about these 12 real 2026 cybersecurity incidents, and the sign each one gave before it made the news. [](/team/revashni-moodley) [Revashni Moodley](#) October 14, 2026 Data Breaches #### [Good Security Rating? Your Dark Web Exposure Says Otherwise](/blog/good-security-rating-your-dark-web-exposure-says-otherwise) Scan your domain to see just how exposed you are on the Dark Web. [](/team/lance-turner) [Lance Turner](#) October 13, 2026 Cybersecurity #### [Left Unsupervised: 10 Times Access Outlived Its Authorization](/blog/10-times-access-outlived-authorization) Access granted once shouldn’t mean access forever. Read more on how unmonitored access caused 10 of these real-life breaches and what they taught us. [](/team/revashni-moodley) [Revashni Moodley](#) August 25, 2026 Cybersecurity #### [Surviving a LockBit Ransomware Attack: The ROI of Visibility](/blog/surviving-a-lockbit-ransomware-attack) Read how veteran CISO Nick Gicinto saved his alma mater from a LockBit ransomware attack by discarding the standard playbook. [](/team/nicholas-sollitto) [Nicholas Sollitto](#) June 1, 2026 [All posts](/blog) Experience superior visibility and a simpler approach to cyber risk management [Get a demo](/contact-sales) [Free trial](/demo)