What are the costs and benefits of developing cybersecurity programs in business?

I’ll start with the costs. Cybersecurity isn’t free. A company implementing cybersecurity measures will pay an individual or team of analysts to evaluate their security environment. Following this assessment, the team will setup their security infrastructure. The company will be required to pay the cybersecurity team to do this, and also to buy the various equipment and software that they install. Another cost that is required is training of employees. Employees at the company will need to understand this new approach which requires hours of coaching. Finally, the ongoing maintenance of this cybersecurity environment incurs more costs.

The benefits outweigh these costs. Cybersecurity attacks are incredibly costly. If a breach occurs, this can be financially devastating. Ransomware attacks for example, can result in millions of dollars lost. Global cybercrime results in trillions of dollars lost annually and the numbers are only expected to rise. Protecting yourself against this is vital in the modern world where everyone is connected and therefore vulnerable. Financial loss doesn’t only occur through stolen assets or ransomware attacks. Failure to protect sensitive information can result in expensive lawsuits and even government penalty. The reputational harm that can occur after this kind of breach can damage a brand beyond repair and result in business closure. There is also an ethical imperative here. When dealing with the personal information of your customers, you’re exposing each one to individual risk. They’re trusting you to protect them from this risk. Failure to do so can cause real world harm to people. Having adequate cybersecurity protections is a moral necessity in this context.