You may think of real estate, stocks, or the latest tech startups when you think of smart investments. There is another type of investment with both immediate and long term advantages: cybersecurity. This crucial investment protects businesses from costly cyberattacks and can help them avoid costly penalties and loss of trust from customers.
As digital transformation transforms the business processes of businesses, they produce, manipulate and store an ever-growing amount of data. The data needs to be managed across a variety of complex computing environments. These environments are regularly spanning cloud and enterprise data centers as well as a host of connected devices such as Internet of Things sensors and robots. This increased complexity results in an increased attack surface, making important information more susceptible to compromise and loss.
Apart from the financial burdens Data breaches can also harm the image of a business and result in long-term loss in sales. A recent study showed that the average cost of the data breach is $4 million, which is difficult for any organization to absorb. Regulations like the California Consumer Privacy Act or the General Data Protection Regulation also have severe penalties for companies who do not adhere to strict security standards.
In today’s highly long-term investment competitive market an effective cybersecurity strategy is essential to growth. It’s more cost-effective and efficient to invest in preventative measures rather than pay for the cleanup and recovery following a breach. By implementing the proper technology and tools, companies can ensure their information is safe during transit, at rest and in between by implementing encryption by focusing on the human firewall and performing regular deep checks.
