The grand obstacle in the quest for robust cybersecurity in many organizations can be attributed to budget constraints.
Smaller organizations often hesitate to commit substantial resources to what they see as an insurance policy — a safety net that seems nonessential unless mandated, like car or home insurance. Large corporations are not immune to budgetary pressures either, with financial turmoils and fluctuating stock prices often leading to cutbacks in cybersecurity spending.
However, the pressing question is whether organizations are getting the best bang for their buck. The allocation of resources is as critical as the resources themselves. An unfortunate yet common misstep is over-securing against potential threats while leaving the door wide open for the imminent ones — a grave misuse of the security budget.
A CSO Online article, “Cybersecurity Spending and Economic Headwinds in 2023”, reports that “53% of organizations will increase IT spending in 2023, 30% say IT spending will remain flat in 2023, and 18% forecast a decrease in IT spending.” When it comes to cybersecurity, 65% plan to raise their expenditure. These figures underline the increased emphasis on cybersecurity across various sectors, irrespective of organizational size. However, the key lies in effectively channeling these investments towards immediate threats. Here's where an Early Warning System (EWS) like Arctic Security EWS, supplemented with the knowledge of known vulnerabilities, becomes an instrumental tool in any cybersecurity budget.
Early warnings is not a new phenomenon. We've seen such systems in operation for decades, in other industries. In cybersecurity their initial iterations focused on threat detection, often resulting in alarm fatigue due to false positives. Graduating from detection to early warning marks a significant improvement as the latter accounts for more comprehensive data analysis and provides relevant information.
Arctic Security's Arctic EWS is an example of this evolution, as highlighted in a report by TAG Cyber. The EWS platform brings together known vulnerabilities and threat analysis to guide an organization towards areas demanding immediate attention, thus ensuring optimal resource allocation.
When adequately managed, an EWS can mitigate the majority of cyberattacks, significantly reduce security resource requirements, and provide concrete data to executive teams and boards. The value of an EWS lies in its ability to quantify the specific threats it has neutralized. Presenting these specifics to budget controllers could underline the severity of the threats and validate the need for an adequate budget, a necessity often overlooked if the security measures are seen merely as preventive and not proactive.
Navigating the bustling cybersecurity market can be overwhelming with countless vendors vying for attention. But when deciding where to channel your cybersecurity budget, it's essential to consider an investment in an Early Warning System – a choice that is likely to provide a demonstrable return on investment.