Categories: Business

Effective Cybersecurity Budgeting For Small Businesses

Cybercrime is one of the most prevalent risks most businesses face today. One recent study found that three-quarters of U.S. companies were at risk of attacks due to their lack of cybersecurity measures. This isn’t limited to just big brands. Criminals are targeting small to medium-sized businesses, too.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons that small businesses can be a target is that they don’t always have high budgets to spend on protective measures. They therefore tend to be more vulnerable to attacks and breaches. This doesn’t mean you can’t defend your company on a lower budget, though. We’re going to explore some of the approaches you can take to create a resilient business with fewer resources.

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Prioritizing Measures

The lower amount of capital small businesses can devote to cybersecurity means you need to make mindful choices about how you spend it. There may be a range of tools and services that would be beneficial to your business, but not all will fit into your tight budget. This means you need to make a list of priorities, so you can devote resources to these first and perhaps apply less capital to others or invest at a later date.

It’s a good idea to start by understanding the four key cybersecurity measures for all businesses to focus on. These are device hardening, end-to-end encryption, patch management, and maintaining a trusted supply chain. They enable you to focus your priorities on protocols that increase cybersecurity awareness across your small business and strengthen it. In particular, it’s worth prioritizing investment in the following:

Device hardening protocols: Device hardening protocols are a way to strengthen the native security of your hardware. The most common way to do this is simply changing the default passwords of devices. In terms of your budget, you might devote capital to devices that give you hardening options or hire professionals to regularly assess and strengthen your device ecosystem.
End-to-end encryption: This type of encryption is essential when you’re sharing financial or sensitive data digitally. Even if hackers gain access to information in transit, they won’t be able to view it without the unique decryption key. Therefore, particularly in small businesses that share financial information, it’s important to prioritize investment in software that has end-to-end encryption and staff who can apply protocols across your networks.

Remember that these are just general areas of recommendation for cybersecurity budget priorities. Each business will also have its own hazards related to its operations, market focus, and industry.

Performing a thorough cybersecurity risk assessment can also help you to better understand what challenges you face and what gaps you need to fill to protect against them. These insights should influence how you prioritize your expenditures.

Investing in Secure and Responsive Infrastructure

Focusing the cybersecurity budget on surface-level measures is a common error. Firewalls, antiviruses, and virtual private networks (VPNs) are all important. Yet, by also devoting resources to strengthening your digital infrastructure, you’re creating a strong framework that makes your small business more holistically resilient against cyberattacks.

This can include building a combination of redundant and diverse internet connections into your business. Redundant connections refer to having duplicate paths to the internet, while diverse connections are about having multiple different pathways.

Investing some of your budget in both can mean that you can easily switch to a backup or alternative solution if your primary internet service provider (ISP) gets attacked or your main router is hacked. As a result, there is less downtime to disrupt your small business.

The simplest approach to redundant and diverse connections is to reach out to alternative ISPs to discuss your needs. They may not just be able to offer a backup connection via cable, but also diverse routes through alternative gateways, like satellite or wireless long-term evolution (LTE) systems. Investing some of your budget in SIM-based routers can give you backups based on affordable data plans that you can easily switch to in emergencies.

It’s worth remembering that infrastructure improvements can be expensive, but you don’t have to do everything at once. Small businesses on low budgets can plan gradual upgrades over a period of months and years. The key is to develop a route to reduce vulnerability in advance and create milestones for upgrades that are within your budgetary means.

Outsourcing Aspects of Security

Budget-friendly cybersecurity tends to require thinking a little more creatively about how to strengthen your systems with lower costs. One such method worth considering is adopting measures you don’t necessarily have to have in-house. There are affordable yet powerful outsourcing options you can choose from.

Rather than using onsite cybersecurity systems that you have to pay licenses for and staff to upkeep, you can consider adopting cloud security tools. These tend to be more cost-effective, as many developers offer subscription packages at different levels depending on business needs. Advanced tools are often available, including network monitoring software that automatically seeks unusual behavior and threats or sandboxes potential viruses.

Another resource you can outsource is cybersecurity staff. While larger businesses may be able to afford to have in-house staff to take care of software patches and assess vulnerabilities, this may not be within the means of small enterprises. Working with an independent contractor with experience and certifications on a limited basis may help you strengthen security in an affordable way.

Cybersecurity For Businesses – Conclusion

Including cybersecurity in your operating budget is a must, as breaches can cause serious damage and disruption. Your approach should include prioritizing investing in the most relevant tools and gradually building a strong infrastructure, among other measures.

It’s also important to remember that threats are changing all the time. Whenever you review your cybersecurity budget, you must also take the time to assess the current threat profile to ensure you’re investing in tools that have the best impact.