What Is Cyber Risk Management? Frameworks and Strategies to Know

Digital systems power nearly everything we do, from customer interactions to employee workflows. But the more tools you adopt and the more data you collect, the more exposed you become. Cyber risk management isn’t a one-time fix. It’s a constant balancing act between cost and risk as threats change. For SaaS business application owners, the role is clear: respond to security requests from your company’s risk team, and keep proof that your apps meet policy. That paper trail can be your best defense if trouble ever strikes.

Cyber risk management helps you identify and mitigate risks to your digital assets, including things like customer records or your internal cloud infrastructure. You may also hear it called cybersecurity risk management or cyber security risk management, but the goal is always the same: protect what matters and prepare for what’s next.

The threat landscape has shifted, too. Modern threats don’t just come from outside—insider misuse, misconfigured apps, and software supply chain attacks can all create major security gaps. Add in evolving compliance requirements, and protecting data becomes even more complex. Let’s look at what makes an effective cyber risk strategy—and how your organization can build one that’s ready for today’s challenges.

Cyber risk management is the ongoing process of spotting potential threats, deciding which risks to address, and reducing them to a level your business can live with — based on its goals, resources, and risk appetite. Some risks are fixed, some accepted, and others are transferred through insurance. And because the threat landscape never stops shifting, the balance must be reviewed and adjusted regularly.

Traditional defenses like firewalls and antivirus tools still have their place, but they’re not enough in a world where cloud services, SaaS applications, and remote work have pushed data far beyond the walls of a corporate data center. That’s why many enterprises now adopt a Zero Trust approach — designed for today’s “no more chewy centers” reality, where every user, device, and connection must be verified before access is granted.

In the past, cyber threats were mainly external, or at least where the attention and reporting focused. But insider risks have always been part of the picture, even if they didn’t make headlines. Today, many companies run dedicated insider threat programs to spot and address risks that originate from within. The reality is, risks come from all directions: cloud misconfigurations, third-party vendors, accidental data sharing, or even an outdated mobile app with hidden vulnerabilities. Managing risk today means accounting for new realities like remote work, expanding cloud ecosystems, and fast-paced application development.

Cyber risk management also includes aligning with evolving data compliance requirements, especially as governments and industry regulators increase scrutiny. For example, keeping track of who has access to customer data, how it’s stored, how quickly it can be recovered after an incident, and how quickly an incident notification can be made is now table stakes. Many regulations set strict reporting requirements and tight timeframes, making rapid incident notification just as critical as recovery itself.

When it comes to data security standards, the goal isn’t to eliminate every threat—because that’s not possible. The goal is to understand where your biggest risks live and apply the right level of protection across users, devices, applications, and data.

When you manage cyber risk well, you protect both your systems and your customers’ confidence. The more personally identifiable information (PII), payment data, and behavioral insights you collect, the more your customers expect that data to stay secure. A single breach can undo years of relationship-building. And the longer it takes to recover from a disruption like data loss or corruption, the greater the hit to service quality, customer satisfaction, and competitiveness — all of which can directly impact the bottom line.

Cyber risk management also helps clarify how much risk your business is willing to tolerate and where to focus mitigation efforts. That clarity allows different parts of the organization—SaaS business application owners, security leads, developers—to work together quickly and seamlessly when something goes wrong.

The benefits extend across every industry. Whether you’re in healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, or the public sector, having a defined risk posture means you can address issues faster and more consistently.

Without a coordinated approach, it's easy for cyber risks to go unnoticed until it's too late. By using proven security best practices, you create a common language around risk, making it easier for stakeholders across compliance, IT, product, and legal to collaborate effectively. That shared understanding is critical when response time matters most.

Not all cyber risks look the same, and not all of them come from hackers. A strong cyber risk management strategy accounts for a wide range of threats, from technical failures to human error to third-party dependencies. Here's a breakdown of common risk categories most organizations face today:

• Operational risks: These include system outages, software bugs, and configuration errors that disrupt day-to-day activities. Even something as small as a missed patch or expired certificate can bring business-critical systems offline.
• Insider threats: Employees, contractors, or vendors with access to sensitive data can misuse it—intentionally or accidentally. Misaddressed emails, insecure file sharing, and shadow IT apps all open the door to potential leaks.
• Credential-based risks: Phishing scams, password reuse, or exposed logins on the dark web can give attackers access to internal tools. With more SaaS logins and remote users, credential protection is more important than ever.
• Regulatory and compliance risks: Failing to meet standards like Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can lead to legal penalties and reputational damage. These risks often stem from inadequate data classification, incomplete audit logs, or lack of access controls.
• Third-party risks: Integrations and vendors extend your digital footprint, but they also expand your exposure. A weak link in your supply chain can create vulnerabilities you don’t directly control.

Identifying the types of cyber risks you face is the first step to managing them—and shaping the right defense across infrastructure, people, and process. For SaaS business application owners, it’s also an opportunity to be a valuable subject matter expert by helping CISOs, GRC teams, and InfoSec leaders understand how these risks apply in your SaaS environment. By recommending configurations and enhancements that align with corporate security policies, you not only strengthen the organization’s defenses but also build expertise that can boost your own value.

Guesswork is not the way to go when it comes to a strong cyber risk strategy. Instead, you need to follow a clear process that every part of your organization can adopt and support.

We recommend a simple, three-step interactive process for SaaS owners to understand when it comes to their strategy: Understand, Protect, and Monitor. That should be the foundation of your cyber risk management strategy.

With those foundational goal posts in mind, you can also refer to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. One of the most widely adopted approaches is the NIST CSF, which outlines six functions: Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. Each function works to reduce exposure and make security part of everyday operations instead of a last-minute scramble.

Set policies, define roles, and assign responsibilities. Governance means establishing how decisions are made around cybersecurity. For example, when a new tool is introduced, who evaluates its risk profile? Who owns the data it accesses? Without these guardrails, even good tech can create blind spots.

Take inventory of your systems, assets, data, and suppliers, and understand which are most critical. Security Center helps here with data-driven risk scoring and prioritization, so you can see at a glance where attention is needed first. For instance, a healthcare organization might prioritize patient records, while a retailer might focus on payment processing systems. The goal is to know what you’re defending and why. Under the NIST CSF, Identify also means looking for ways to improve policies and practices across all six functions, creating a stronger foundation for every other part of your security strategy.

Apply safeguards to limit or block threats. This includes identity and access management, encryption, and user authentication. Data security and privacy are just as critical — following the Principle of Least Privilege means granting users only the access they truly need. Security Center automatically identifies risky permissions and helps maintain least privilege access more easily and quickly. Implementing tools like Salesforce MFA helps protect user accounts from unauthorized logins, especially in hybrid or remote work settings.

Monitoring for threats in real time helps spot unusual behavior before it becomes a significant security incident. Under the NIST CSF, Detect also includes adverse event analysis — investigating suspicious activity to understand its scope and potential impact. Salesforce Event Monitoring supports this by providing detailed visibility into system usage, making it easier to identify patterns like a sudden spike in data downloads by one employee that could signal an insider threat. Early detection and analysis give teams more time to act before damage is done.

When something does go wrong, a rapid and organized response limits damage. Under the NIST CSF, Respond also includes incident analysis and reporting, which means capturing the details of what happened and sharing the right information with the right stakeholders. These steps are often heavily dependent on Salesforce Event Monitoring, which provides the data needed to understand the incident, document the response, and meet reporting requirements. Having incident response playbooks, escalation paths, and communication protocols in place can turn a crisis into a manageable issue. It's not about preventing all attacks but minimizing their fallout.

Because data breaches are a “when” and not an “if,” quick recovery keeps your business running. Whether it’s restoring access to applications or retrieving essential data, recovery plans are non-negotiable. Solutions like Salesforce Backup & Recover help teams restore systems to a known-good state without delays or manual patchwork.

Together, these six principles provide a foundation for managing cyber risk proactively. They give security, IT, and compliance leaders a shared process that’s adaptable to any industry and built for a world where threats never stop evolving.

Cyber risk looks different depending on where you sit. From data privacy regulations to insider access risks, each industry faces unique challenges and requires tailored strategies to manage them effectively.

Healthcare, for example, faces strict privacy requirements under laws like HIPAA. Risks often include unauthorized access to patient records, improper data sharing, or gaps in auditability. Security Center plays a key role here, identifying high risks, including who can see what data, and flagging improper sharing. Paired with tools like Salesforce Shield: Field Audit Trail and Platform Encryption, you can better protect sensitive health data and maintain full visibility into who accessed what and when.

Or take financial services firms, which manage highly sensitive client data and are frequent targets of phishing and fraud. Risk mitigation means controlling access at a granular level and spotting anomalies fast. Security Center’s risk intelligence, along with Who Sees What, helps pinpoint risky permissions and data visibility concerns. Multi-factor authentication and event monitoring help prevent unauthorized activity and alert teams to unusual behaviors, like high-volume data exports or login attempts from unrecognized locations.

Even public sector agencies often juggle multiple departments and user groups within the same system. That complexity makes consistent policy enforcement critical. Centralized tools like Security Center help unify oversight across agencies, making it easier to monitor threats and prioritize actions.

In every case, industry-specific threats demand thoughtful, flexible cyber risk strategies. And proving that you’re managing those risks responsibly takes work. Many organizations dedicate significant resources to producing audit reports and compliance documentation, sometimes annually, sometimes more often. Security Center streamlines the process of generating these reports for Salesforce orgs, saving teams time and effort while keeping them audit-ready year-round.

As you can see, not every organization or field has the same risk profile. Some operate under strict industry regulations, while others may prioritize speed and scalability over traditional security models. Choosing the right cyber risk management framework helps tailor protection to your business’s needs without reinventing the wheel.

You can develop and implement your own framework, or leverage industry frameworks and methodologies, such as NIST (which we covered) or alternative models. Here’s how a few leading models support different aspects of cyber risk strategy:

Designed for businesses operating in highly connected environments, WEF focuses on resilience rather than just defense. It outlines six core principles:

• Embed cybersecurity into business strategy
• Engage leadership and stakeholders
• Promote a culture of cybersecurity awareness
• Ensure internal and external collaboration
• Foster systemic resilience across supply chains
• Prepare for recovery and continuity

What sets this model apart is its emphasis on shared responsibility. It recognizes that no single entity can mitigate cyber threats alone, especially when third-party partners and global infrastructure are involved.

Depending on your industry and maturity level, these additional options offer practical guidance for building out a risk-aware security program:

• Center for Internet Security (CIS) Top 20 Controls
  A prioritized list of defensive actions—ideal for organizations looking to start with high-impact basics like asset inventory, access control, and audit logging.
• ISO/IEC 27001/27002
  A globally recognized standard for information security management systems (ISMS), often used by companies aiming to meet international compliance requirements.
• Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR)
  A quantitative model that measures risk in financial terms, helping business leaders weigh cybersecurity investments the same way they assess other forms of risk.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
  Required for any business that handles credit card transactions. Focuses on securing payment environments from data theft and fraud.
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
  Specific to healthcare, HIPAA outlines how to protect patient data and meet privacy requirements across electronic systems.

Each framework brings a different lens to cyber risk management, whether it’s prioritizing controls, quantifying exposure, or meeting regulatory standards. The key is selecting one that fits with how you operate and where your risks live.

Your cyber risk management strategy isn’t complete without the right technology to support it. Salesforce Platform offers built-in capabilities that protect data, enforce policies, and recover quickly when threats do arise.

With Security Center, you can move beyond prevention to full-scale cyber risk management for your Salesforce environment. Its Governance, Risk, and Compliance capabilities — now extended with Own — bring together data classification, configuration management, least privilege access, risk prioritization, mitigation tracking, alerting, monitoring, and reporting in one place.

You can deploy configuration policies across organizations, get alerted when something deviates from those policies, and ensure corporate security controls are consistently applied. Security Center’s built-in risk intelligence codifies decades of specialized security expertise, surfacing issues your team might have missed and scoring them based on mitigation progress so you can act on the most urgent risks first.

Additionally, Salesforce Shield provides key security features built directly into the platform. With Field Audit Trail, Platform Encryption, Data Detect, and Event monitoring, teams can log access and spot suspicious behavior before it turns into something more serious. These features are especially valuable for regulated industries where auditability isn’t optional.

Need to know who accessed sensitive records and when? Shield makes that easy. Need to make sure that only authorized users can view or modify customer data? That’s where platform encryption comes into play.

Controlling access is just as critical. Requiring multi-factor authentication adds a layer of protection that stops attackers, even if login credentials are compromised. It’s a small step that dramatically reduces the risk of account takeovers, especially in remote or hybrid environments.

Security doesn’t end with prevention. If a security incident does occur, rapid recovery is key. That’s why tools like Backup & Recover help protect key data and reduce downtime. Instead of scrambling to recover lost information manually, teams can return systems to a known-good state with minimal disruption.

With protections like these built into your application development platform, you can innovate without sacrificing trust. Don’t leave anything to chance—protect with Salesforce Platform starting now.