Download free excel template for Risk Register of Data Protection. This template is useful for data protection officers, IT risk managers, IT Risk Professionals, Chief Information Officers (CIO) and business leaders. This is a free to download and easy to use template. Data protection risk register helps in keeping track of all potential risks related to Informational technology or operational technology and stay risk ready !
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About Data Protection Risk Register Excel Template
Risk management involves a continuous process comprising of identifying risk in the information technology area, analyzing it, evaluate scenarios, and treat loss exposures and monitor risk control and financial resources to mitigate the adverse effects of loss.
You can update the following information in this risk register excel template for data protection;
- Risk ID to keep track on the number of risks identified and considered as a part of risk management.
- Risk description helps to update the brief summary of the risk so that anyone can understand the underlying risk statement.
- Impact description captures what will happen if risk is not mitigated or eliminated ?
- Reoccurance helps to understand if the risk is ongoing or one time. Also, depending upon the geography, industry nature, company size – this will vary for any type of risk.
- Before control assessment of likelihood, probability level and priority level (P*I) helps to understand how the risks are trending and what is the overall assessed priority level.
- Control measures that already exist in the process of the corporate or business that can address the risk.
- Documentation helps to highlight the key documents and SOPs that helps to understand the overall risk and control measures.
- Owners are risk champions who are responsible for mitigation strategy.
- Target closing date is a date defined by Enterprise risk management team for closure of risk mitigation.
- Status and date closed are updated as the mitigation plan moves ahead.
You can add more fields and columns in this template. This template helps you in getting started.
Example of Information technology risks
Now, Lets take an example of information technology risk that can arise in the business scenario,
Risk Statement
Data Breach Due to Insufficient Security Measures
Scenario (To understand the risk statement)
A company stores sensitive customer data, including personal information and payment details, on its servers. The company has not implemented robust security measures to protect this data. Hackers manage to exploit vulnerabilities in the company’s systems, gaining unauthorized access to the database and stealing customer data.
Risk Components
The threat in this scenario is the potential for malicious actors (hackers) to exploit vulnerabilities in the company’s systems and gain unauthorized access to sensitive data.
The vulnerability is the weak security measures implemented by the company, such as inadequate firewalls, lack of encryption, unpatched software, and insufficient employee training in cybersecurity best practices.
The impact of this IT risk can be severe. Customer data, including personal and financial information, could be stolen. This can lead to identity theft, financial losses for customers, damage to the company’s reputation, legal and regulatory penalties (such as GDPR fines), and potential lawsuits.
The likelihood of a data breach occurring is higher due to the known vulnerabilities and lack of proper security measures in place.
The risk level is high due to the potential for significant financial, reputational, and legal consequences.
Mitigation strategy
There are several mitigation strategies which can be implemented to address the risk;
- Implement Strong Security Measures
- Employee Training
- Regular Audits and Assessments
- Data Minimization
- Incident Response Plan
- Data Backup and Recovery
- Third-party Assessment
Download and use Data Protection Risk Register Excel template
To use this free excel data protection Risk Register template, you should have Microsoft Office/ Microsoft Excel installed in your system.
After installing Excel or Spreadsheet, download the zip file of this template, extract the template using WinRAR or 7Zip or WinZIP (Recommended) decompressing software.
Once extracted, you can open the file using Excel and start entering data or customizing the template.
