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There are many reasons why an asset inventory is essential. It’s important to stay up to date on cybersecurity, as well as other IT topics such as cloud computing and data storage.
In addition, your business can benefit from an asset inventory if you want to:
- Find out what devices are being used in your office or company
- Keep track of how much money has been spent on each device over time
What is an asset inventory?
An asset inventory is a list of all your business’ physical and digital assets. It includes every device, system, software application and other devices – virtual or on-premise, that are important to your operation.
An asset inventory helps you identify what you have so that you can protect it better. For example: if someone steals one of your laptops with sensitive data on it then they’ll only be able to access that information if they know how to use the laptop.
Benefits of an asset inventory
An asset inventory is a list of all the hardware and software you use in your business. It can help you protect your business from cyber threats, as well as identify weaknesses in your system.
Here are the benefits of an asset inventory:
- Improved accuracy and efficiency
With an asset inventory, you can accurately track and manage all your company’s assets in one place, making it easier to identify what you have, where it is, and how it is being used. This can lead to improved efficiency and reduced costs.
- Better decision-making
Having a comprehensive asset inventory can help you make better decisions about your company’s investments and resource allocation. By knowing what assets you have and their value, you can make informed decisions about which assets to prioritize and where to allocate resources.
- Enhanced security
An asset inventory can help you keep track of your company’s physical assets, such as equipment and machinery, as well as digital assets, like software and data. This can help you identify potential security risks and take steps to mitigate them.
- Compliance and risk management
An asset inventory can help you comply with regulations and manage risk by ensuring that all assets are properly documented, tracked, and managed.
- Improved maintenance and repair
With an asset inventory, you can track the maintenance schedules of your assets, ensuring they are properly maintained and repaired. This can help extend their lifespan and reduce downtime.
- Increased accountability and transparency
An asset inventory can help increase accountability and transparency in your organization, by ensuring that all assets are properly documented and tracked. This can help prevent loss or theft and promote a culture of responsibility and ownership.
Read: How to overcome cybersecurity challenges in asset management
Why is an asset inventory a must-have for your cybersecurity program?
Asset management is a crucial part of any cybersecurity program. By keeping track of all the assets in your organization, you can better protect them from cyber threats.
Gaps in inventory can create blind spots in your defenses, leaving you vulnerable to attack. This is especially true for cloud resources, which can be more difficult to track and manage than on-premises assets.
Without a complete and up-to-date inventory of your assets, it can be difficult to detect and respond to cyber attacks. Attackers can take advantage of gaps in your defenses and exploit vulnerabilities in your systems. This can lead to data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage.
By implementing a robust asset management program, you can reduce your attack surface and improve your detection and response capabilities. It makes it easier to identify and mitigate cyber threats before they cause serious harm.
Gaps in inventory are a significant challenge for organizations looking to maintain a robust cybersecurity posture. The risk of suffering a cyberattack increases when there are unknown assets in the network that are not properly tracked and managed. Once an attack does occur, the resulting investigation and recovery can be far more challenging, time-consuming, and costly for the organization.
To mitigate the risks of cyberattacks, it’s essential to maintain an up-to-date inventory of all IT resources. This includes knowing how many machines are in the network, removing outdated systems and accounts, and keeping patching schedules current.
By doing so, organizations can reduce their exposure to cyber threats and increase their chances of detecting and containing incidents quickly. Unknown assets mean unfound risks and exposures, and it’s critical to stay on top of inventory management to maintain a strong cybersecurity posture.
There are several factors that can contribute to gaps in inventory, making it difficult for organizations to maintain accurate and up-to-date records of their assets. One of the main factors is a lack of visibility into the network. As organizations grow and expand their IT infrastructure, it can become more challenging to keep track of all the assets on the network. This is particularly true for organizations with multiple locations or those that rely heavily on cloud services.
Another factor that can drive gaps in inventory is a lack of resources. Many organizations struggle to dedicate the time and staff needed to maintain an accurate inventory of their assets. This can be particularly challenging for small and medium-sized businesses, which may not have the budget or personnel to invest in robust asset management programs. As a result, they may rely on manual processes or outdated tools that can be time-consuming and error-prone.
Finally, gaps in inventory can be driven by a lack of awareness and education. Many employees may not fully understand the importance of maintaining an accurate inventory of assets or may not know how to properly track and manage them. This can lead to assets being overlooked or forgotten, further contributing to gaps in inventory. Organizations can address this issue by providing regular training and education to employees on the importance of asset management and best practices for keeping track of assets.
Ways in which your asset management platform is key to your cybersecurity
Stay secure and compliant at all times with Virima
Without an accurate understanding of the assets on the network, it can be difficult to identify and mitigate potential risks. Skilled criminals may use various techniques to exploit gaps in inventory, such as social engineering, phishing, or exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities.
They may also target unknown or forgotten assets that are not properly secured, using them as a foothold to gain access to other parts of the network. This can result in data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage for the organization.
To protect against these threats, it’s critical for organizations to maintain a complete and up-to-date inventory of their assets.
By regularly auditing the network and removing outdated or unused assets, organizations can reduce their attack surface and better protect against cyber threats. Additionally, implementing strong access controls and regularly patching vulnerabilities can help to further mitigate risks and prevent attackers from exploiting gaps in inventory.
Virima’s IT asset management platform is the solution your organization has been looking for. With the ability to handle complete IT lifecycle management and manage your distributed IT asset inventory, Virima takes care of all your long and short-term needs.
Whether you need to manage your critical hardware and software asset inventory with or without the added benefit of agentless and agent-based asset discovery, Virima has got you covered. With Virima, you can rest easy knowing that your organization’s assets are being managed efficiently, cost-effectively, and securely.
Virima ITAM is the perfect solution for organizations looking to manage their IT assets from end-to-end. From data centers to edge devices, cloud infrastructure to stockrooms, and software to non-IT assets, Virima ITAM has got you covered.
One of the key features of Virima ITAM is its configurable status designations, which allow you to track the status of your assets throughout their lifecycle. Whether an asset is requested, ordered, in development, in production, or decommissioned, Virima ITAM makes it easy to keep track of where your assets are and what stage of the lifecycle they are in. This feature is particularly useful for organizations that need to manage a large number of assets across multiple locations, as it makes it easy to keep track of everything.
Virima ITAM can also be paired with ITSM Request Fulfillment to handle the approval and assignment of new IT assets. This integration makes it easy to streamline the asset approval process, ensuring that new assets are assigned quickly and efficiently. By automating this process, organizations can save time and reduce the risk of errors or delays.
Whether it’s planning for the next hardware upgrade or ensuring that all software licenses are up-to-date, Virima’s IT asset management platform is equipped to handle all your needs. So why wait? Sign up for Virima today and experience the peace of mind that comes with knowing your organization’s assets are being managed by the best in the business.
