What Percentage of Your Budget Should Go To Information Security?

With the rise of cloud computing, mobility, software-as-a-service, and virtualization; there is a paradigm shift in the way organizations handle their business. Due to the increased involvement in online operations and web-based transactions, the focus is on securing the organization’s internet powered virtual space. The onus of determining the cyber security budget lies in the hands of the CIO, who takes vital inputs from the department heads before making the final decision. The senior information and security officers, who have done their IT security certification, are masters of their domain and play a key role in strategizing the budget. The collective planning of budget is the first and most important step in devising the security plan for the whole organization.

How Much Is Enough?

In light of the growing number of security breaches, we have seen many organizations coming to a standstill after successful hack attacks. Not too long ago, when a ransomware called WannaCry ran amok in the World Wide Web, it brought major organizations to their knees. It was able to temporarily cripple National Health Service hospitals and facilities in the United Kingdom, and also caused major delays in vital medical procedures. It is one out of the long list of many disasters that has kept organizations on their toes and made them cough out generous sums of money on security solutions. The biggest question that has befuddled the head honchos of various enterprises for long is: how much they need to invest in security solutions for staying safe?

It is hard to agree upon a common percentage that every organization should reserve for its security expenditure, as different enterprises have different structures and web presence. Even if you have a ton of information security certifications under your belt, you will find the process quite hard. To make this challenge easier, you can use the following tips to improve your information security budget: 

1. You Need To Know Your Current Resources

You need to analyze and assess your existing resources and apply metrics. How many alerts were recorded? How many of them were real threats? You need to know the answers to these questions. You need to know the cyber security solutions you currently have in place, how effective they are, and where they are lacking. Once you know where the breach points are, you need to ask your cyber security manager what they need to make the security foolproof, and that will make creating the budget simpler for you.

2. Setting Aside a Portion of the Budget for Competent Manpower

Selecting the best tools and software is not sufficient by itself for maintaining information security in your workplace. Generally, CISOs focus on the latest tools and end up bringing in fancy software that have little to no use in their organization. It is best to analyze all aspects of your organization’s online infrastructure and bring in a tool that is ideal for addressing security threats at your workplace. In some situations, you will be better served by the employment of competent manpower that has relevant experience in information security. Hiring people with network security certifications and computer security certifications is a good start.

3. Check the Effectiveness Solutions Timely and Reassess the Budget

It is a good habit to check the effectiveness of your information security solutions timely. In case your security plans are providing you the desired results, you can always bring in a new solution. This is only possible if the CISOs are ready to reassess the budget in the middle of a financial year. Making use of Cybersecurity Framework released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2014 is a great way to check the competency and potency of your information security solution.

Challenges in Finding the Right Employees to Fit Your Budget

As we have discussed before, hiring competent employees is a good start for minimizing your organization’s budget. The input that you gain from your team is worth its weight in gold. With the right feedback from your employees you will be able to predict your future security budget with confidence. You can also get members of your team IT security certification training from QuickStart and develop high quality cyber security resources within your organization.