US Chamber of Commerce, FICO Report National Risk Score of 688

The United States' National Risk Score is 688, report the US Chamber of Commerce and FICO in their Q2 "Assessment of Business Cyber Risk" (ABC). This marks little overall change from the previous quarter's score of 687, though large businesses and small firms saw greater change.

ABC's National Risk Score is the revenue-weighted average of the FICO Cyber Risk Score for nearly 2,400 small, midsize, and large companies. A score, ranging from 300 to 850, reflects the probability of a business being hit with a material data breach within the upcoming 12 months. The higher the score, the lower the likelihood the organization will experience a breach.

Since last quarter, the average risk score for large organizations rose from 643 to 649; small ones saw their average score drop from 740 to 736. "While these scores reveal the nation's cybersecurity risk was virtually unchanged, FICO and the Chamber urge businesses to do more to measure and manage risk posed by third parties," officials said in a statement.

Third-party risk management was a highlight of the second-quarter report, which states a growing percentage of security incidents against organizations stem from initial compromise against third parties. Attackers can leverage this trusted relationship to gain access, move laterally, and escalate privileges to get to their targets. The ABC report urges businesses to build a framework for third-party categorization, develop a workflow to address the criticality of each risk, frequently assess high-impact suppliers, and ensure the appropriate transfer of risk.

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