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

When trying to create a successful business, there needs to be a cybersecurity program in place to protect all assets within that business. Along with designing a cybersecurity program comes with both costs and benefits. The most notable cost for a program being the financial investment that is required to have effective security. Like everything else, implementing cybersecurity in a business also comes with a price. For example, during the initial setup stage there is the purchasing of hardware and software needed when first starting. Another cost for business is the investigation costs when there is a possible cyber-attack. There is also a price tag for businesses getting the justice system involved to investigate and justify the cyber-attack that occurred. A third cost when developing a cybersecurity program is recovering costs in the event of a successful cyberattack. For example, when a data breach occurs within a business, there needs to be actions in restoring data and the system as a whole. That restoration process takes both time and money in order to make that happen. On the other hand, there is the most important benefit when developing a cybersecurity program which is protecting that business’s assets. Sensitive data within a business needs to be protected and a cybersecurity program’s main purpose is to solve that problem. A benefit that some don’t think of is the competitive advantage that comes with having a cybersecurity program. Having such program will draw the consumer’s attention to choosing the protected business over the business that has lesser protection or none at all. Additionally, having a secure system will allow the business to focus on newer projects which will also apply to competitive advantage. That’s just a list of few of many points on both sides of costs and benefits to businesses developing a cybersecurity program.