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

Developing a cyber security program is costly, and that is one main reason why small businesses are more vulnerable to data breaches compared to bigger companies. They lack the resources needed to invest in information security. The goal in creating a cyber security program is to make a company as secure as possible; make sure that all critical information is more secure and decrease the chances of a cyberattack from occurring. When developing a cyber security program, the company would need to do research on where they are most vulnerable and find a solution on how to make things more secure.  Even though a cyber security program is costly, it is worth the investment because creating a more secure environment will benefit both the employees and the company’s customers.

The first thing to prioritize would be to understand the risk. Companies should observe any environmental threats, their business resources, and cyber criminals. After that, they need to figure out how to manage those risks. For example, there needs to be a solution on how to keep critical information secured in cases of natural disasters. Also, when they look at their business resources, they need to determine the value of information that is stored within the company.

How can you tell if your computer is safe?

One way to test if our computer is protected is to perform a scan. Another way to keep computers protected is to make sure it is up to date; the computer has the latest system update.  A protected computer should also not have ads constantly popping up. Especially if we open our browsers and a bunch of non-secure sites or ads keep popping up, chances are that the computer has a virus. Make sure that there are not any files that look suspicious, and if there are any files that do not seem familiar, we must permanently delete them. Performing a thorough scan in our computers is an effective way to check for any suspicious activity going on because there are sometimes files hidden in our computers that may be harmful. Doing a scan is more accurate when searching for any files that may be suspicious.