Cultural Change
System 1 has implemented culture change on a significant scale for over 25 Federal and private sector organizations to incorporate better management as well a security and privacy seamlessly into their mission and output. Our process incorporated top down and bottom up change with leadership education and buy-in. The process was customer-centric, inclusive, and agile, and built an overall community across the enterprise not only sharing common objectives but also information and tools. The approach broke classical barriers and silos and led to more common approaches which could be used by anyone in the organization. It established a path forward where progress was measured, and success was continually publicized in “small bites”.
System 1 used incentives to reward “good” behavior and metrics were added to demonstrate progress and return on investment. Leadership was visibly involved to support the effort and integrate it into their approaches. At one of the Federal cabinet level-agencies, the Inspector General, an oversight organization, evaluated the approach and recommended it as an organization-wide initiative. Changing behavior to incorporate positive attributes led to improvements in how work was planned and accomplished thereby effectively meeting organizational goals and performance.
With this distinct knowledge, deep experience and rigorous approach, System 1 helps its clients create successful transformation programs and develop cultures of continuous improvement.
Vendor Contract Review
System 1 has experience in the review, analysis, and assessments of your vendor contracts. We also negotiate contracts for clarity of terms. In addition to your own processes, you may encounter issues with certain vendors, such as cloud service providers and web hosting firms, that utilize language that may impact your information. We perform a thorough dissection of your contract for advice and counsel. System 1 also develops standard vendor clauses and for organizations purchasing complex items and services that can be leveraged throughout an organization’s enterprise.
Insurance Assessments and Legal Review
Cyber insurance generally covers your business liability for data breach that includes sensitive information, including but not limited to personally identifiable information, such as your account number, social security number, credit card numbers, driver’s license and health records, among others.
While major insurance companies offer insurance against the cost of a data breach, there is as yet no agreement on industry standards. With a full understanding of the policy language and how it would apply in the event of a breach, System 1 can provide you the room you need to negotiate with insurance companies. We can also perform assessments of your security or privacy programs that may lead to reduced insurance costs.
Building Resilience and Incident Response
Security incidents and breaches will happen. Most organizations have been or are currently compromised. It is essential to both build resiliency into the organization’s critical infrastructure and be prepared to handle and respond to incidents efficiently and effectively when they occur. This duel approach can reduce costs by enabling continued (if degraded) business operations while also looking to contain the incident/breach and minimizing the damage. Handling incidents correctly is also important to ensure that the firm or agency responds in accordance with federal law as well as all applicable regulations to reduce the risk of legal repercussions or damage to public trust. Like many security functions it is generally assessed without considering the context within which incident response (IR) management occurs.
The System 1 incident response assessment approach begins with the organization’s strategic goals and objectives in mind. Our incident response professionals review policies and procedures, the documented results of prior exercises, as well as real world incident lessons learned documentation. The team will determine how well current capabilities aligns with applicable standards (NIST, ISO, COBIT, NERC, etc.) and integrates with and compliments other essential security privacy, and business functions. This holistic approach ensures our team of experts identifies specific and actionable tasks and activities that will enhance the resilience of the organization and effectiveness and efficiency of its incident handling when…not if an incident occurs.
Artificial Intelligence, Ultimate Risk, and Business Strategy
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a cluster of technology frameworks and capabilities that allow machines to sense, comprehend, learn, and act on their environment with varying degrees of human oversight and engagement. As AI’s potential grows so does the pressure on firms to use it. Recent surveys have uniformly indicated that most C-suite executives believe they must leverage AI to achieve their growth objectives or even remain competitive in their sectors. But in the headlong rush to implement AI-powered solutions businesses neglect to put in place complimentary risk and cyber safeguards.
How do you unleash the full power of AI but manage the risks? By ensuring your approach to business risk (operational and cyber) operates in concert with your AI strategy and initiatives. Your AI is only as good as the data that fuels it. And the insights gained are only valuable if they remain protected and in your possession.
Your AI strategy is destined to turn your data into a competitive asset. System 1’s risk and security experts ensure your data and the derived insights remain your firm’s competitive asset.
