Owning and running a business is a game of weighing risks and rewards, and that means that you must always base your strategic investments on expected benefits. Unfortunately, even in today’s digital world, many overlook the value of cybersecurity as an investment, considering an operational cost, not one that can contribute to business growth.

As it turns out, however, cybersecurity is actually one of the key pillars of success in today’s business environment. Even simple, smart cybersecurity spending can lay the groundwork for long-term growth. Below, we’ll explain exactly how your investment in cybersecurity can make your business safer and protect your growth over many years!

Safeguarding Your Critical Assets and Systems

Cybersecurity is a fundamental part of business growth because it keeps your most critical assets and systems safe. Typically, it’s not possible to treat every single security system your business uses with the same level of priority. The best investment method is to pinpoint your most valuable assets and the biggest risks associated with them, bolstering your security in those areas first.

Whether your biggest risk comes from cyberattacks, bot activity, or some other form of malware, it’s easiest to justify your spending to leadership and investors when you can prove that your money is going to be spent on the most urgent risks your business faces. Assets such as your intellectual property, customer databases, and operating systems matter most, and should be addressed first.

Uniting Security and Compliance Into One Strategy

Many older-style security frameworks separated the concepts of security and compliance management into distinct silos, but as online threats and regulations have evolved, it has become increasingly clear that this approach is outmoded. Instead, modern security is integrated thoroughly with compliance frameworks.

To ensure that you have a unified strategy, it’s important to map all of your security controls across various compliance standards, including NIST, ISO 27001, and others. This kind of broad, comprehensive mapping is common in the digital space, encompassing everything from code signing to cybersecurity. It not only frees up time for your security team, minimizing tasks, but also makes auditing easier.

Improving Human Training and Competence

While cybersecurity is fundamentally a digital concept, it’s hardly removed from the need for human input. In fact, strong cybersecurity can only succeed at all if everyone involved in the security system is informed, prepared, and given adequate tools and access. That’s why training your employees (even those not involved directly in IT) is crucial for maintaining security.

It’s vitally important for you to think of your entire workforce as a sort of “human firewall.” Much like your actual security systems, your employees need to be able to form a secure barrier against cyber threats. Offering cybersecurity training and engaging in drills like phishing tests or other practical, hands-on guidance can help you improve your cybersecurity even more.

Detecting and Responding to Threats Quickly

Keeping your business safe online is more than just a “wait and see” approach. Even if you implement a strong security system, you can’t afford to sit back and let it work passively to protect you. You have to be active in detecting threats and combing your system for issues that you can remediate.

Partnering with a strong threat management firm that can execute penetration testing or other forms of threat detection is a necessary step to keep your business safe. Investing in endpoint detection and EDR solutions is also a good idea, as these methods proactively evaluate your security systems on a recurring basis, checking routinely for threats that you can stop before they spiral out of control.

Maintaining Compliance with Key Frameworks

As cybersecurity has grown and evolved, it has become very clear that compliance frameworks are more than just guidelines and suggestions businesses should follow in order to appease regulatory bodies. On the contrary, these frameworks actually offer the most up-to-date and comprehensive guidance you can find in regards to online security. On top of that, they’re a sure-fire way to prove that your business takes security seriously.

Ensuring that your business complies with common frameworks like HITRUST is not just a way to satisfy auditors. Compliance and certification keep your business at the forefront of cybersecurity, and many frameworks actually merge a variety of best practices into single certifications, making it easy to limit your workload and achieve high-level security at the same time. Compliance and certification also connect you with a like-minded network of serious security partners, enhancing your overall security in the long run.

Securing Data with Backups and Response Protocols 

It’s important to remember that, no matter what you do, no security system is perfect. The goal of cybersecurity cannot be 100% immunity, because that is an impossible task. Instead, the goal is both strength and preparedness, and one of the ways you can stay prepared is by building out data backups and response protocols.

Data backups are vital in cybersecurity because ransomware and other threats cannot encrypt, delete, or corrupt them. Meanwhile, even though response plans assume that an attack may occur, they’re vitally necessary for that exact reason. They keep you prepared in the same way backups and patch management do in VPS hosting. Cybersecurity is all about proactivity, and having a response plan ready to go is one of your most proactive steps.

A Secure Business Is a Long-Term Investment!

Cybersecurity costs money. On that, there is no doubt. But instead of viewing it as an added expense, you should see it as a strategic investment that will not only help you grow your revenue stream, but also maintain it. Minding all aspects of cybersecurity, from asset protection to training to threat detection, you strengthen your business long-term and preserve your chances of future success.

Author Bio:

Nazy Fouladirad is President and COO of Tevora, a global leading cybersecurity consultancy. She has dedicated her career to creating a more secure business and online environment for organizations across the country and world. She is passionate about serving her community and acts as a board member for a local nonprofit organization.