There are various benefits and costs of developing cybersecurity programs within a business. However, I believe that the benefits drastically outway the costs of these programs. Cybersecurity programs focus on improving the security of computer systems and the information they store. Cybersecurity also includes steps taken by employees, which may be mandated by the company. Some of these steps include using strong, unique passwords, deploying multi-factor authentication, and performing computer updates. According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach is $4.45 million. Deploying proper cybersecurity policies and programs can help prevent data breaches, allowing companies to spend this money in other ways. Alongside this, companies may experience less downtime compared to those who are hit with cyberattacks. However, nothing good comes without a cost. Hiring in-house cybersecurity professionals can be expensive and companies may not want to share their information with unknown third party cybersecurity firms. Alongside this, as cybersecurity is always evolving, these expenses would be continual. Moreover, employees may not want to or have trouble following new policies put in place relating to cybersecurity. Some cyberattack tactics are not easy to defend against, such as phishing, meaning employees must be aware of these types of attack. They should also be able to distinguish them from real emails, which may be hard. Despite any of the potential drawbacks from implementing a new cybersecurity program, companies should understand that the benefits drastically outweigh the cons. Cybersecurity programs benefit the companies operations and the employees by ensuring that they are able to do their jobs without experiencing any downtime from cyber incidents. Alongside this, cyber incidents can completely put a company out of business, leaving people without jobs. The costs of cybersecurity programs can be overlooked times to better understand there are more benefits.
Sources:
https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach