Cyber attacks are a reality across the globe, costing billions of dollars each year. It’s clear that the stakes are higher than ever. When it comes to cybersecurity, however, organizations and agencies often struggle to demonstrate why they should invest and where they should focus to best protect employees, data and customers.
Unfortunately, cybersecurity is often seen as a cost center instead of an investment. Changing this mindset requires that organizational leaders get a better understanding of the scope and frequency of cyber attacks, and that security professionals demonstrate why and how they’re prioritizing cybersecurity spending.
Making the Case for Investing in Cybersecurity
The reality is that today’s threat landscape is more complex than ever. The need for security has gone far beyond traditional perimeter defense of the IT network. It now spans cloud applications and infrastructure, and endpoint devices like laptops and mobile phones, in addition to LMR and PSAP networks.
Cyber attacks continue to increase in number, frequency and sophistication, with attacks occurring an average of every 39 seconds. The costs can easily run into millions of dollars in damages, downtime, stolen or compromised data and remediation. In fact, it is estimated that cybercrime will cost organizations $6 trillion by 2021.
Organizations continue to find it difficult to recruit and retain cybersecurity talent, resulting in an estimated 4 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs worldwide. In addition, tightened budgets and limited resources have resulted in a continued reliance on out-of-date technology and overworked security teams.
Prioritizing Cybersecurity Investments
With so many challenges, how can organizations prioritize where and how to invest in cybersecurity?
A thorough assessment of an organization’s overall cybersecurity program and infrastructure can provide a clear idea of where vulnerabilities are and where to focus immediate efforts. Professional security advisors can deliver insights to help make informed decisions on the best security procedures and controls to implement.
The next step is addressing the ongoing need to prevent small cybersecurity threats from evolving into bigger incidents. This requires regular patching of systems, along with 24/7 monitoring and real-time analysis and correlation, to detect and remediate security issues faster. A service provider with the right people, advanced technology and proven processes can proactively monitor the entire IT ecosystem and effectively manage security to stop small issues from becoming big ones.
Even with 24/7 monitoring in place, creating an incident response and recovery plan for potential cybersecurity incidents is critical. Given that it takes most organizations an average of six months to detect a data breach, they can translate into financial losses, along with downtime, reputational damage and even regulatory actions. If a breach does occur, the faster it can be detected and remediated, the less likely it is to cause damage.
Finally, there’s regular cybersecurity training. Investing in your front-line defense with continuous cyber learning for your IT and security team gives employees the opportunity to learn new skills and develop existing ones, ensuring that knowledge remains fresh and that employees remain confident in their abilities.
Summary
The security strategies of the past are inadequate to protect against today’s advanced security challenges. And finding the right plan to ensure secure and resilient operations can be overwhelming. What processes and procedures do you need to implement? What tools do you need to invest in?
Partnering with an experienced and trusted service provider can help you navigate the challenging world of cybersecurity while strengthening your cyber resilience, and find answers to these questions.
At Motorola Solutions, our Cybersecurity Services bring together an integrated portfolio aligned to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) framework. From risk assessments and penetration testing, to security monitoring and patching and system recovery, we provide a purpose-built and integrated approach to end-to-end cyber resilience – providing you peace of mind that you’ve invested in your organization’s security and resilience.
Learn how Motorola Solutions can be the one service provider for all your cybersecurity needs.
