CRITICALSTART® Launches Free Peer Benchmarked Cyber Risk Assessments Tool Empowering Organizations to Evaluate and Enhance Defenses  

PLANO, TX, May 7, 2024– Today, Critical Start, a leading provider of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) cybersecurity solutions and pioneer of Managed Cyber Risk Reduction (MCRR), announced the launch of its new, free Quick Start Risk Assessments designed to help organizations better understand their security maturity which includes the capability to monitor an organization’s cyber risk mitigation effectiveness over time.. The 15-question guided survey, maps to 75% of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF 2.0), evaluates the security maturity of an organization, provides peer benchmarking, and delivers actionable insights through dashboards and reports. 

Many organizations today lack visibility into how their cyber maturity compares to industry standards and their maturity to peer organizations. They struggle to objectively determine if their security program is as effective as it should be at mitigating cyber risk. According to Critical Start’s 2023 Cyber Risk Landscape Peer Report, 66% of organizations are facing challenges with visibility and insight into their cyber risk posture, with the vast majority seeking help to reduce their cyber risk.  Quick Start Risk Assessments help address these challenges by delivering risk dashboarding, monitoring, mitigation recommendations, security maturity measurement against expected levels, and evaluating posture against industry standards.  

“Through our customers, we understand the inherent challenge security leaders face in gauging the effectiveness of their security programs. Evaluating one’s security posture is a complex task, and often, the true measure lies in comparison with similar organizations,” 

said Chris Carlson, Chief Product Officer at Critical Start.  Our Quick Start Risk Assessments offer a free solution, providing actionable information and recommendations within minutes. By benchmarking against peers, security professionals can swiftly ascertain the robustness of their risk management readiness, empowering them to fortify their security strategies with confidence.” 

Critical Start Quick Start Risk Assessments are available free to both Critical Start customers and non-customers, with no limit to the number of times assessments can be taken. The assessments compare security maturity to over 1,000 organizations across more than a dozen industries, offering critical comparative data that helps validate security maturity and justify budget requests. Organizations that take the assessments multiple times can set target states, compare to peer levels, and visually track security improvements over time. 

Quick Start Risk Assessments is released in conjunction with Critical Start’s appearance at RSA Conference (South Hall, Booth #449) where the company will be enabling attendees to try it and see peer benchmarks.  

To learn more about Critical Start Quick Start Risk Assessments visit: https://www.criticalstart.com/quick-start-sign-up/

About Critical Start 

Organizations today face the challenge of aligning their cyber protection measures with their risk appetite. CRITICALSTART®, a pioneer of the industry’s first Managed Cyber Risk Reduction solutions, provides holistic cyber risk monitoring via its Cyber Operations Risk & Response™ platform, paired with a human-led risk and security operations team, combined with over 8 years of award-winning Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services. By continuously monitoring and mitigating cyber risks, Critical Start enables businesses to proactively protect their critical assets with a measurable ROI. The company’s platform provides maturity assessments, peer benchmarking, posture and event analytics, and response capabilities. Its risk and security operations team evaluates and actions threats, risks, vulnerabilities, and performs comprehensive threat intelligence research. Critical Start enables organizations to achieve the highest level of cyber risk reduction for every dollar invested, allowing them to confidently reach their desired levels of risk tolerance.  

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