Even though the cost of developing a cybersecurity program for a particular business will vary based on the data it wants to protect and how the business wants to protect the data (ie. with its own respective cybersecurity team or using a cybersecurity firm), the cost of an eventual attack or breach and damages may cost more. According to IBM, cybercrimes globally, have cost business organizations on average, $4.35M US in 2022 so far, compared to $4.24M US in 2021 and $3.86M US in 2020. The average cost of a data breach in the United States alone in 2022 so far is $9.44M US, which is $5.09M US more than the global average. As the trends have shown over the last three years, the average cost amount is steadily increasing annually and shows very little signs of slowing down. Business organizations can benefit from having a cybersecurity program in place and mitigating risks and damages. Some of the ways that a cybersecurity program can help mitigate risks are Employee education/training programs, Privileged access implementation, Monitoring, Detection and Response, and Managing Third-Party Risk.

It is important to have a thorough vetting process when employees first come into an organization and to consistently have employee education and training to ensure they are up-to-date on the latest information and knowledge. Employees are not just an organization’s greatest vulnerability but also their first line of defense and having training will assist in the long run. Privileged access implementation is the strategy to ensure that all users have the privileges and permissions needed depending on their role and responsibilities in the organization. Minimizing access to data not needed to perform their duties will mitigate breaches. Monitoring, Detection, and Response is the strategy of monitoring the system or network 24/7 to ensure that if a breach is detected, the response to the breach is swift and effective to minimize damage, recovery time, and cost. Managing Third-Party Risk is the strategy of ensuring that external business resources that have direct access to the organization’s protected data have similar or better cybersecurity protections in place to avoid breaches through the external resource that will affect the organization.

Sources:

Cost of a data breach 2022. IBM. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2022, from https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach

Unni, A. (2022, February 28). Why cyber security is important for business. Stickman Cyber. Retrieved October 22, 2022, from https://www.stickmancyber.com/cybersecurity-blog/why-cyber-security-is-important-for-business