Does more Cyber Spending mean more Cyber Security?
Probably not….
Cyber Security is crucial to all types of industries and businesses. It safeguards all types of data against theft and loss. Sensitive Data, Protected health Information, Personally Identifiable Information, Intellectual property, Personal Information Data, Financial Data and Confidential Business Information. Ignoring this vital issue can lead to not only losses to the company but also put the company’s reputation at stake. A company’s reputation could take a dive if it’s hit by a major data breach, ransomware attack or any other form of cybersecurity incident.
There are 2 types of organizations that spend the least on cyber security –
- Those who IGNORE the problem and overlook the risks involved.
- Those who have a mature IT program.
Instead of allocating cyber security based on fear and preparing for the worst case scenario, organizations should assess their level of risk and determine the actual value of the Security. This concept will reduce the probability of overspending and will still maintain a responsible defense around network and devices.
When making a case for a software purchase it’s a good idea to review the current inefficiencies to product functionality.
Certain things to be kept in mind while planning for a Purchase/ Enhancement of a Cyber Security Software.
1. Identify inefficiencies and find solutions
List out the areas where a breach has happened or are vulnerable – identify the cause – find out ways on how it can or could have been avoided or what was lacking.
2. Identify business-friendly metrics for success
Tie your security Goals to Real Business Value. Data Breaches lead to financial losses and loss of business clients. Collect data from your risk landscape and compare it with industry averages on a large to know about the efficacy and reliability of your cybersecurity program.
3. Calculate the return on investment
You need to list the benefits of the new or upgraded plan and as to how it will increase the efficiency, safeguard the company from the risks and be cost effective.
Cybersecurity enhancements reduce the inefficiencies and increases visibility.
To ascertain whether the company is spending enough on cybersecurity analyze on the following:
- Determine your appetite for the risk
- Determine the impact of a cyberattack on your assets and systems.
- Calculate the impact by the degree of vulnerability and you will get your total risk exposure.
- If this risk is higher than what you can tolerate then the Cybersecurity needs to be beefed up
- Understand the impact of a Cyber Attack
- Do the Risk Assessment on a regular basis
- Measure the Vulnerability
Each of the above is different for every organization as for each it is specific depending on the size, industry and its market positioning.
Aligning security to a known framework can help identify gaps in the organizations controls, policies and procedures that could leave you vulnerable. Main two areas where gaps most often exist are in detection and response. Using a known framework helps in setting a baseline and then measuring the progress as we prioritize solutions for filling the gaps based on how much they will reduce the risk. Compliance requirements and Budget. Paying for a Security Management Tool when no one is looking at the alerts and the reports becomes an additional expenditure and an extra burden as its benefits are not being used by the company. Thus, the importance of Cyber Security must be understood carefully and the correct Cyber Security Software must be chosen to reap its benefits. It is much better to have a single security system that safeguards the company from all risks as it is easy to maintain a track of what is happening.
I need to mention about inDefend here which is a Unified End Point Monitoring System that protects us from Data Leakage and provides Employee Productivity and Behavior Monitoring. This is offered to us by Data Resolve which is India’s Leading Threat Management and Employee Productivity Monitoring Company.
Their product inDefend is user friendly and operates from a single dashboard. It identifies where all the sensitive information is stored and forms a shield around it closely monitoring its access and outflow of data from there. It sends real time alerts on seeing any probability of data leakage. There is full transparency of all employees whether working from office or remote areas irrespective of the size of the organization. It creates daily reports on all the information sent out and by whom. Protects the Server and monitors its access. It has the Screen Shot Facility available that helps in accountability if the need arises. It works across all devices and also monitors BYOD’s. Provides Application Sandboxing too. All this comes to us at a very reasonable price and in a single package. To know more do contact us!
