Drift
Policies set in 2019 are running against a Microsoft tenant that looks nothing like 2019. Nobody owns keeping them current.
Concentration
Email, files, identity, and soon Copilot all live in one tenant. One compromised environment is the whole organization, not one system.
Nobody knows the number
Most IT leads cannot state their Secure Score without looking it up, and a good score can sit on top of real gaps the score never checks.
Examiners are asking
FDIC and NCUA attention is shifting to cloud and AI use. "Our vendor set that up" is not an answer that holds up in an exam.
Why this matters now
A strong Secure Score is not the same as a secure tenant.
Most IT leaders cannot state their Secure Score without looking it up, and when they do, the number does not say much. Microsoft itself says Secure Score is not a risk measure: it weights improvement actions, not threats, and it only counts the settings Microsoft chose to score.
An organization can hold a strong score and still have shared mailboxes that accept direct sign-in, standing Global Administrator roles on everyday accounts, and backups that one admin action can erase.
Rivial checks about 500 controls across identity, email, collaboration, compute, storage, and databases, well beyond what the score covers, and rates each gap by the threat it exposes you to. Guessing is not a posture.
Unnamed findings
A percentage does not tell you which 400 accounts are missing MFA or which 17 storage accounts have soft delete turned off.
No priority
A dashboard scores a setting on one test server the same as a setting on every production system.
Vendor blind spots
If a managed service provider or a migration partner set up the tenant, you need an independent view of what they actually configured.
Copilot readiness
Copilot can only be as safe as the tenant underneath it. Over-shared SharePoint sites and stale permissions were tolerable when a person had to go find the data. An AI assistant that indexes everything removes that friction.
Scope and connect
(Weeks 1 to 2)
We confirm license, subscriptions, and maturity target. Your admins create the read-only app registration and guest reader account from our guide, usually one to three hours of their time.
Collect and review
(Weeks 2 to 4)
Rivial runs the collection, rates every control, and an analyst validates each finding against the evidence. You receive a short evidence request for the few settings read-only access cannot see.
Report and readout
(Weeks 4 to 6)
You receive the executive summary and the risk-rated remediation workbook, walk the priorities with us in a one-hour readout, and record management responses on the findings that need your context.
How A Finding Gets Its Priority
Ratings that hold up in front of the board and the examiner.
Every control in the standard is tied to a documented threat scenario, rated for likelihood and impact on NIST SP 800-30 scales, with a written and sourced basis. Your environment's evidence can raise a rating. Nothing lowers one. The same inputs produce the same order every time, so nothing on the list is a matter of opinion on the day.
Bind
- Each control maps to an adversary scenario: account takeover without a second factor, abuse of privileged roles, destruction of data and its backups, and others.
Combine
- Likelihood and impact meet on the NIST SP 800-30 matrix to set the control's inherent risk.
- Inherent risk is fixed, so next year's results compare to this year's.
Adjust
- If most of the resources checked fail, likelihood goes up.
- If the failed resources hold identities, secrets, or role assignments, impact goes up.
Order
- Every finding gets a priority (Critical, High, Medium, or Low) and a position from 1 to n in the fix list.
- Critical means before the next change window.
Why Lean Security Teams Choose Rivial
Built for the team you actually have, not the team you wish you had.
Findings, not recommendations
Every finding is tested against your actual configuration and names the affected objects. Not a questionnaire, not a list of best practices. Hand it to your admin or your MSP and the work starts.
Read-only by design
The app registration is yours, single-tenant, and signs in with a certificate Rivial generates. Azure access is Global Reader. No write role is ever requested, and you can delete the access when the report lands.
Built for the exam
Ratings follow NIST SP 800-30, the methodology is written down, and the management response puts every risk decision on record for the board and the examiner.
Governance
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Policy Updates: Review and add AI-related content to existing policies, employee handbooks, and security protocols.
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New AI Policy: Establish a dedicated AI risk management policy, including oversight teams, compliance processes, and data security measures.
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Procurement & Change Management: Address AI in procurement, shadow IT risks, and assess third-party software updates introducing AI.
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Issue Tracking: Update issue tracking systems to include AI- related risks and performance issues.
Risk Management
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Risk Appetite: Adjust loss tolerance to accommodate AI- driven benefits and risks.
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Data Types: Assess changes in data types and volumes due to AI integration.
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Information Systems: Identify and track AI’s impact on existing systems and business processes.
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Controls & Testing: Implement and regularly test AI-specific security controls, ensuring systems operate as intended without introducing new risks.
Compliance Management
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Continuous Testing: Ensure ongoing evaluation of AI systems for model drift, bias, and other risks.
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Streamlined Compliance: Use integrated platforms to manage cybersecurity and AI compliance efforts together, ensuring continuous oversight.
Vendor Security
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Third-Party Monitoring: Enhance vendor security assessments with AI-specific safeguards and adversarial testing.
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Data Security: Implement robust data access controls and secure storage practices for AI systems.
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Model Governance: Ensure continuous AI model validation and governance in third-party solutions.
Incident Response
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AI-Specific Playbooks: Develop tailored incident response plans for AI risks, including model drift and other AI-related failures.
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Business Unit Involvement: Ensure business units play a key role in responding to AI-related incidents, alongside IT and Cyber teams.
Ready to Harness the Power of AI Without the Risk?
Unlock the benefits of AI for your organization while effectively managing the risks, with our comprehensive AI risk management solution. Let us help you ensure AI works for you—securely, ethically, and compliantly.
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Ready to Harness the Power of AI Without the Risk?
Unlock the benefits of AI for your organization while effectively managing the risks, with our comprehensive AI risk management solution. Let us help you ensure AI works for you—securely, ethically, and compliantly.