Why cybersecurity is important in the modern age

Around the world, billions of dollars are being lost to cyber-attacks every year. Hackers spend their days finding ways to steal personal/confidential data from companies and selling it to others. Such thefts can destroy your reputation, interrupt your business, and cause you to have to pay fines to regulators. Some hackers enjoy causing general destruction and havoc, whereas others want to take down their business competitors.

These days, it’s not about whether your company will be breached, it’s when.

That said, technology is almost essential to running a modern business. The benefits often outweigh the costs and risks. Thus, rather than avoiding technology completely, we look at how to mitigate the risks and make them manageable. We look at how much it costs for each security control. Then, we decide which risks are worth taking, depending on your risk appetite overall.

Security needs for different company sizes

Larger company > more IT infrastructure > more automated processes > more tech vulnerabilities > more potential identities/data stolen at a greater scale (because client base is large) > more money at risk in the business > more investment needed to ensure safety

Smaller companies get attacked because their network defenses are weak. They need to focus on e.g. firewalls & their mobile device protection policy.

Security principles: keep things simple

There is no such thing as perfect security, and rushing to implement all security controls at one time won’t work.

Know your priorities and highest-risk areas.

There is no point in panicking about not having all the protections right now. You do the best you can with the money you have to protect your business.

Even when we make security mistakes, we will learn.

When you’re stuck, learn from other companies in your industry.

Share security best practices with each other. It’s a big problem! Don’t take everything on alone.

Security won’t happen when you feel it’s a lost cause and too much work. Security will happen when you believe in it & take action.