The Inconvenience Of Cybersecurity

Let’s face it, cybersecurity is inconvenient. It gets in the way of what would be simple day-to-day tasks and processes. It forces you to hesitate before opening any email or following seemingly harmless links. You have to think before you click.  You have to remember things like passwords, PIN numbers, usernames, answers to security questions, your significant other’s father’s mother’s maiden name, etc. On top of all that, your business now has to invest resources and money in an attempt to secure the network – JUST IN CASE.

What. A. Drag.

This mindset is what makes cyberspace such a goldmine for criminals. Think about it. How many user accounts do you have online? Nearly one for every website you visit, I’d venture a guess.

Are you using the same password for all?

Experts say you shouldn’t. But, if you had to create a new password for every account, you’d somehow have to remember each one and, let’s be honest, most of us don’t have great memories. In fact, some of us can’t even remember what we had for breakfast, or where we parked the car at the mall, let alone a host of different passwords. You could write your passwords down (not recommended) or use a password manager, although that still puts your password at risk. The safest place for your passwords is right up there – in your noggin.

And how about those security alerts inundating your inbox? After awhile, it’s just a “boy who cried wolf” situation. Interestingly, this is precisely what happened in the Target data breach back in December 2013. “Oh, it’s just another alert.” Nope, it’s a wolf buried in a sea of worthless alerts!

We all understand the inconvenience of cybersecurity. Even those of us working in the field cringe a little when we see our inboxes full of alerts. We also understand that security costs money – money that you’d probably rather invest somewhere else because where’s the ROI in security?

You can’t approach security like every other business transaction. The ROI is not evident, apparent, or even quantifiable … that is until your business has been breached. At that point, the shift moves from focusing on growing your business to focusing on damage control and saving your business.  And, if you invested in the wrong solution, the resulting ROI is quite the opposite of what you were looking for.

You need to look at cybersecurity like it’s a division of the military for your business. There to defend you, your business, and your customers … just in case – because when it comes to the cost of a data breach after the fact, the cost of cybersecurity is peanuts.

As we all work to create better defenses and integrate cybersecurity into our operations, it’s important to understand that cybersecurity isn’t the enemy here.  The real enemy or inconvenience is cybercrime.