Cyber RiskOps: Bridging Strategy and Operations in Cybersecurity

When I envisioned the Cybersecurity Compass, my goal was to create a framework that would guide organizations through the full lifecycle of managing cyber threats. It wasn’t enough to focus only on detection and response or on post-incident recovery—cybersecurity had to begin long before an incident occurred. The Before a Breach phase of the Compass, which focuses on proactive Cyber Risk Management, quickly became a cornerstone of the strategy. This phase is all about identifying, assessing, and mitigating cyber risks before they materialize, ensuring that organizations can prevent threats from escalating into crises. But as I worked with organizations, it became clear that while the Compass provided strategic direction, there was a missing link: the operational engine that would bring the proactive strategy to life. That’s where the concept of the Cyber Risk Operations Center (CROC) and Cyber RiskOps emerged.

The CROC became the operational hub for the proactive cyber risk management envisioned in the Cybersecurity Compass. It offered a centralized framework to unify fragmented teams, processes, and tools, ensuring that cyber risk management wasn’t just theoretical but actionable. In the CROC, everything is integrated—threat intelligence, vulnerability management, governance, and incident planning—giving organizations the ability to dynamically assess and mitigate risks in real time. The CROC became the manifestation of the Compass’s proactive phase, a tangible implementation that brought strategy and operations together.

And yet, even with the Compass and the CROC in place, there was one more layer needed to fully operationalize cyber risk management: Cyber RiskOps. Cyber RiskOps serves as the connective tissue between strategy and execution, creating a continuous loop of cyber risk assessment and cyber risk reduction. It transforms cyber risk management from a static process into a living, breathing system, powered by continuous feedback loops and real-time insights. The Cybersecurity Compass provides the strategic “why,” the CROC provides the operational “where,” and Cyber RiskOps provides the process-driven “how.”

Together, these three concepts form a unified ecosystem. The Cybersecurity Compass defines the need for proactive cyber risk management in the Before a Breach phase. The CROC delivers the infrastructure and collaboration to act on that need, and Cyber RiskOps drives the processes that make risk management dynamic and adaptive. This interconnected approach is what ensures that organizations can move beyond reactive defense to build true resilience, staying ahead of threats in an ever-changing digital world.

A New Model for Today’s Dynamic, Shared, Continuous Cyber Risk

The pace and complexity of modern cyber risk have far outgrown conventional approaches to risk management. Traditional governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) programs often focus narrowly on compliance obligations, leaving organizations ill-prepared to address the interconnected, dynamic, and continuous nature of cyber threats. This gap in effectiveness leaves cybersecurity leaders struggling to articulate whether they’ve effectively mitigated critical cyber risks, proactively identified potential loss scenarios, or aligned risk management with decision-making lifecycles.

To address these challenges, we must fundamentally rethink how we approach cyber risk in today’s digital-first environment:

• Cyber Risk is Dynamic: Cyber risks evolve rapidly due to their inherent interconnectedness and uncertainty. Organizations need a structured approach to anticipate and interpret these pressures across all dimensions, aligning mitigation strategies with their overarching strategic goals.
• Cyber Risk is Shared: Managing cyber risk effectively requires collaboration across all stakeholders. It is not solely the responsibility of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or IT teams. Instead, it’s a shared responsibility involving business line owners, operations teams, leadership, and even third-party partners. Without clear accountability and alignment, cyber risks often fall through the cracks, leaving the organization exposed.
• Cyber Risk is Continuous: In today’s volatile environment, cyber threats and vulnerabilities don’t remain static—they evolve in real time. Addressing them demands a continuous process of assessment, prioritization, and mitigation that adapts as circumstances change. Static, point-in-time assessments are insufficient in a world where risks and opportunities shift rapidly, often on a daily or even hourly basis.

This context sets the stage for a transformational approach to cybersecurity: Cyber Risk Operations (Cyber RiskOps). Cyber RiskOps bridges the gap between compliance and operational security by creating an integrated, continuous system for identifying, prioritizing, and mitigating cyber risks in real time. It ensures that organizations don’t just react to cyber threats but proactively manage and reduce their exposure, aligning their cybersecurity efforts with business priorities.

By embracing Cyber RiskOps, organizations can build a resilient and dynamic approach to cyber risk—one that acknowledges its shared, continuous, and dynamic nature while ensuring that every mitigation effort is tied to a clear, strategic outcome.

Enter Cyber RiskOps

When I first introduced the concept of Cyber RiskOps, it wasn’t just an idea—it was a response to a growing need I saw in organizations struggling to manage cyber risks effectively. One conversation in particular stands out, where a CISO at a large financial institution asked me, “How do we stop being reactive and start controlling our cyber risk landscape?”

This question struck at the core of the challenge. Organizations were overwhelmed by alerts flooding their Security Operations Centers (SOCs), while governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) teams worked in isolation, focused solely on meeting regulatory demands. Despite their best efforts, there was no clear answer to a fundamental question: Are we truly reducing our cyber risk?

It was this gap—between operational firefighting and strategic oversight—that inspired the creation of the Cyber RiskOps framework. I envisioned a system that could seamlessly integrate continuous cyber risk assessment and continuous cyber risk reduction, creating a dynamic, proactive approach to managing cyber threats. But this journey wasn’t just about solving technical problems; it was about transforming how organizations think about and act on cyber risk.

The Cyber RiskOps Framework: Filling the Gaps

Organizations had long been stuck in a fragmented approach to cybersecurity:

• SOCs were hyper-focused on detecting and responding to incidents in real-time.
• GRC teams were bogged down by compliance requirements, disconnected from operational realities.
• And between them, no one was connecting the dots to provide a holistic view of cyber risk.

The result? Silos, inefficiencies, and a reactive mindset that left organizations vulnerable to emerging threats. Cyber RiskOps was created to bridge this gap by bringing together the two critical elements of cyber risk management: Continuous Cyber Risk Assessment and Continuous Cyber Risk Reduction.

The Flow of Cyber RiskOps: A Continuous Cycle

The true strength of Cyber RiskOps lies in its dynamic, continuous nature. Unlike traditional cybersecurity frameworks that rely on static, point-in-time assessments, Cyber RiskOps is built to adapt in real-time, addressing the ever-changing landscape of cyber threats. Its iterative flow ensures that cyber risks are identified, contextualized, mitigated, and reassessed without interruption. This creates a living process, constantly evolving to keep pace with business priorities and the external threat environment.

Cyber Risk Identification

The process begins with the discovery and mapping of cyber risks across the organization’s digital ecosystem. This foundational step involves uncovering vulnerabilities in systems, applications, and processes, as well as identifying external threats and emerging cyber risks. A critical component of this step is maintaining a continuous asset inventory, which ensures that all assets—whether they are systems, devices, applications, or third-party dependencies—are accounted for and mapped to their roles within the organization.

Asset inventory goes beyond simply cataloging what exists; it captures the relationships and interdependencies between assets. For example, a seemingly minor internal system might play a vital role in supporting critical applications or customer-facing platforms. Without an accurate and up-to-date understanding of these relationships, organizations risk overlooking vulnerabilities that could lead to significant impacts.

By integrating asset inventory into the discovery process, organizations can gain a clear view of their full attack surface, identifying where cyber risks are most likely to emerge. This ensures that all potential sources of cyber risk, whether internal or external, are cataloged, understood, and contextualized. With a comprehensive view of their threat landscape, organizations can set the stage for effective cyber risk management, informed decision-making, and targeted mitigation efforts.

Contextualization

After cyber risks are identified, they are analyzed within the specific business and operational context, aided by continuous cyber risk scoring. This step ensures that raw risk data is transformed into actionable insights by examining the potential impact of each risk on the organization’s critical objectives. For example, a vulnerability in a system that handles internal data may seem low priority—until contextualization reveals its connection to a customer-facing application.

Contextualization incorporates feedback loops that connect cyber risks back to cybersecurity efforts and business priorities. These loops enable continuous refinement of the cyber risk landscape, ensuring that risks are always evaluated in light of the organization’s evolving strategic and operational context. Continuous cyber risk scoring dynamically updates cyber risk rankings based on factors such as new threat intelligence, system changes, or operational dependencies, ensuring that prioritization is always based on the most current information.

Prioritization

Once cyber risks are contextualized, they must be ranked based on their likelihood, potential impact, and urgency. This phase leverages continuous cyber risk scoring and AI, which dynamically evaluates risks as conditions evolve. This scoring incorporates real-time data from vulnerability scans, threat intelligence feeds, and monitoring systems to ensure that prioritization is always accurate and actionable.

Feedback loops play a critical role in this phase, allowing the system to reassess and reprioritize risks as new information emerges. For instance, if a previously low-priority vulnerability becomes part of an active exploit campaign, its score and priority are automatically elevated. This ensures that mitigation efforts focus on the most pressing threats, optimizing resource allocation and improving overall security posture.

By maintaining an ongoing cycle of cyber risk prioritization, organizations avoid the pitfalls of static assessments and ensure that cybersecurity efforts remain agile and responsive to real-world conditions.

Cyber Risk Mitigation

With prioritized cyber risks in hand, the focus shifts to mitigation, where actions are taken to reduce or eliminate vulnerabilities. These actions can range from patching software, fix misconfigurations, implementing Zero Trust architectures to deploying advanced monitoring systems or improving employee training. The goal of mitigation is not just to address immediate threats but to build long-term resilience by strengthening the organization’s defenses.

Continuous cyber risk scoring supports this phase by providing ongoing updates on the effectiveness of mitigation efforts. If a mitigation action doesn’t fully address the risk (e.g., if a patch fails or a threat evolves), feedback loops ensure that this information feeds back into the identification, contextualization, and prioritization phases. This iterative process ensures that risks are not only mitigated but continuously monitored for effectiveness.

Verification

Once mitigation measures are implemented, verification ensures that the actions taken are effective. This phase involves testing solutions, reevaluating risks, and validating that controls are functioning as intended. For example, red teaming, penetration testing or automated security checks might be used to confirm that a patched vulnerability or a fixed misconfiguration is no longer exploitable.

Continuous cyber risk scoring plays a key role in verification, dynamically updating cyber risk scores to reflect the success or failure of mitigation efforts. If a cyber risk score remains high despite mitigation actions, it signals the need for further investigation or alternative solutions. Feedback loops ensure that lessons learned during verification feed into subsequent identification and prioritization phases, continuously refining the organization’s approach to cyber risk management.

Verification ensures that mitigation efforts translate into measurable reductions in cyber risk exposure, creating a cycle of improvement that enhances the organization’s overall security posture.

Monitoring

Monitoring is the final phase in the Cyber RiskOps flow, maintaining vigilance against new and evolving threats. Real-time observation of systems, behaviors, and external threat intelligence allows for the early detection of risks and vulnerabilities. Monitoring provides critical feedback to the identification phase, ensuring that new risks are captured and incorporated into the continuous cycle.

Continuous cyber risk scoring ensures that monitored risks are dynamically evaluated and prioritized as they emerge. For example, if unusual activity is detected in a system that was previously considered secure, its risk score may increase, triggering immediate prioritization and mitigation efforts.

Feedback loops within the monitoring phase ensure that data gathered from ongoing observation informs every other phase of the Cyber RiskOps flow. This creates a seamless connection between monitoring and the rest of the cycle, ensuring that the organization remains proactive and adaptive in the face of an ever-changing threat landscape.

The Power of Continuity

The cyclical design of Cyber RiskOps ensures that no phase operates in isolation. Risks are continuously identified, contextualized, mitigated, verified, and monitored, creating a proactive system that evolves with the organization’s needs. Continuous cyber risk scoring and feedback loops ensure that the process remains dynamic, enabling real-time adjustments and ongoing improvements.

By embracing this continuous cycle, organizations can move away from reactive, fragmented approaches to cybersecurity and toward a unified, resilient posture. Cyber RiskOps transforms cybersecurity into a living process—always adapting, always improving—ensuring that no risk is ever left unmanaged and that the organization is always prepared for what comes next.

The Future of Cybersecurity

Incorporating Cyber RiskOps into your cybersecurity strategy transforms how organizations manage threats, risks, and resilience. It does not replace SecOps but enhances it by adding a risk-focused layer that aligns with the organization’s strategic objectives. Together, SecOps and Cyber RiskOps provide a comprehensive, unified approach to cybersecurity, empowering organizations to not only survive but thrive in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

The time to embrace Cyber RiskOps is now. Organizations that integrate this forward-looking approach will not only strengthen their defenses but also build the resilience needed to navigate the uncertain waters of modern cyber threats.