1. What are the costs and benefits of developing cybersecurity programs in business? 2. How can you tell if your computer is safe?

1. When looking at businesses there are a lot of factors that one has to consider dealing with. Both cybersecurity and information security have the potential to affect businesses in lage ways. Information security deals with the protection of information and the systems that hold it. Cybersecurity deals with the prevention of acts that pose a threart to things like integrity, availability, and confidentiality. As society and technology has progressed businesses have had to put increasingly more resources into protection from cybersecurity and information security threats because they have increased (Paulsen). Data has shown alarming trends when it comes to cyber attacks and small businesses. 50% of small businesses have been cyber attack victims and those attacks have caused 60% of those businesses to go out of business (“The Impact of Cybersecurity on Small Business.”). This happens to be a benefit to developing cybersecurity programs in business. A lot of the reason that cyber attacks get so bad is because they go unnoticed. Therefore, developing these programs can often help find problems faster and ultimately save businesses. Another benefit to developing these programs is saving money. It is shown that in the U.S alone, cyber attacks cost small businesses an average of $25,612 (Pickard-Whitehead). Having programs can significantly deter these attacks and in turn costing businesses a lot less money. The only cost to developing these programs in businesses is the initial cost it takes to have them implemented and the upkeep in order to ensure they remain working as technology develops. 

“The Impact of Cybersecurity on Small Business.” SBIR.GOV, SBIR | STTR, drive.google.com/file/d/1YokA-b8nQZtx88aZFXuSEF2Zfo5ZuL6Y/view. 

Paulsen, Celia, and Patricia Toth. “Small Business Information Security_ the Fundamentals.pdf.” Doi.org, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Nov. 2016, drive.google.com/file/d/1skgUaMDG1zMNrq6pppohB_GGNATDzzcl/view. 

Pickard-Whitehead, Gabrielle. “The Average Cost of a Cyber Attack on a Small Business Is More than $25,000.” Small Business Trends, Small Business Trends, 2 June 2021, smallbiztrends.com/2021/05/cost-of-cyber-attack-small-business.html. 

2. It is not necessarily easy to tell whether or not a computer is safe, especially by just looking at it. There are multiple things that you have to look at before determining if a computer is truly safe. One important thing is whether or not you are on a public or private computer network. This can make a big difference in who can see and any data you access on the computer. One a private computer network this is not something you necessarily have to worry about but it is a big risk you take when using a public computer. Another way to determine if a computer is safe is to look at and question how secure it is. Keep in mind questions such as Do I have anti-virus software? Have I run it recently? Have I clicked on any suspicious links? All of these questions are important to think of especially when using a computer because as technology advances people have become more creative when it comes to accessing information that is not there. Computer safety is much more important than most people think and in order to protect yourself you want to be knowledgeable about it.