Security risks are on the rise. In 2023, business email compromise cost companies more than $2.9 billion, and 94% of businesses were targeted by email security incidents according to Forbes.
Cybersecurity is now a top priority for CIOs – solutions that deliver improved visibility, transparency, and agility can help reduce potential risks. But solid cybersecurity also offers a secondary benefit: streamlining business operations. Here’s how.
From Necessary Cost to Key Component: How Cybersecurity Is Changing
Historically, IT security tools and technologies were necessary budget line items. While they helped keep company data safe, they were effectively separate from business processes at large. The evolution of cloud computing and the consumerization of digital devices, however, has changed the way companies view cybersecurity.
The primary shift centers on end users. When desktop computers and secure intranets ruled the business world, cybersecurity was the exclusive province of IT teams – if users had questions or needed help, they could submit a ticket and wait days or weeks for a response.
Now, businesses expect IT teams to be responsive when users have questions and proactive in their approach to cybersecurity. This has led to the development of “shift-left” models that see users leveraging self-service resources to address concerns and answer questions, as well as cybersecurity teams spending on AI-driven tools to help pinpoint problems before they start.
The outcome? Cybersecurity is no longer seen as an inevitable cost, but rather an integral part of business ROI strategy.
Benefits of Cybersecurity for Business Operations
Solid cybersecurity practices help reduce the risk of data compromise and monetary loss. They also offer benefits for business operations, including:
1Reduced downtime
Cybersecurity can help reduce the risk of unexpected downtime. For example, the use of email scanning tools and cloud-based analytics can help security teams find, identify, and eliminate potential risks.
Consider a malicious email that contains an infected attachment. If downloaded, the resulting malware could take down systems for days or weeks. If security teams can prevent this email from reaching user inboxes, they can significantly reduce the potential for downtime.
2Increased consumer confidence
Customers are willing to trust businesses with their data but will quickly jump ship to a competitor if companies can’t keep this data safe. Protective measures, such as two-factor authentication and data encryption, can reduce the risk of data breaches and boost consumer confidence, in turn driving ROI.
Internal assets such as intellectual property also benefit from security frameworks such as zero-trust network access and dedicated IP protection services.
3Improved performance
The use of always-on, continually updated scanning tools can help improve operational performance. This is because many pieces of malicious software spend some or all of their life cycles as network observers – for example, keyloggers watch and record every keystroke made by staff. Ransomware tools, meanwhile, may carry out reconnaissance to identify critical assets before encrypting data.
While these processes may not cause downtime, they can impact network and application performance as they use available resources to search for weak points. Identifying and removing these malicious applications can improve overall network performance.
4Simplified operations
Cybersecurity can also help streamline business operations.
The increasing use of “shadow IT” – software and services not approved by IT teams – provides an easy example. If multiple departments each download multiple tools, many of which share overlap in features and functions, the result is a complex and confusing IT landscape that offers a host of places for attackers to hide.
Regular cybersecurity audits can help companies identify redundant processes, remove unauthorized apps, and create a shared IT environment that is simple, streamlined, and secure.
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