The National Cyber Security Centre Says It’s Time for Businesses to Take Cybersecurity Seriously

According to the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), data shows c-suite members aren’t taking cybersecurity seriously ( source), leaving their entire organizations open to significant cybersecurity risk. The current strategy of waiting to pay attention until something goes wrong is not a long-term solution or lends itself to business success. Executives need to be thinking about cybersecurity now–yes, you read that right. Executives need to focus on preventative cybersecurity measures before something goes wrong for the sake of their organization’s security and, most importantly, their bottom line. Waiting to deal with security until a cyberattack happens costs money–and lots of it.

Experts recommend the conversation around cybersecurity should be a regular one–one that happens at board meetings just like discussions around financial or legal risk. For example, suppose organizations want to protect themselves and prioritize IT security. In that case, these conversations around preventative IT security need to occur not just within the IT team but in the boardroom of executives themselves. It’s that important.

Bringing these conversations into the boardroom does two key things:

1) It helps the decision-makers understand the impact if something goes wrong (i.e., a cyberattack).

2) Even with a plan, things can still go wrong. Therefore, talking about a contingency plan within the prevention plan is very important. In addition, there are often financial and legal risks tied into a potential cyberattack that executives need to be discussing ahead of time.

Most organizations that suffer a cyber attack response by placing a heavier focus on their security strategy. But why wait until something goes wrong to prioritize your IT security? Prevention plans and contingency plans are organization and industry-specific and deserve their bullet point on the boardroom agenda. After all, IT isn’t just IT–it’s tied to the financial and legal health of an organization as well. These are priorities within every executive team, and so should be IT security.

We understand that many businesses were in survival mode during covid, and it wasn’t easy to think about expanding things like your IT security plan and support. However, you may be ready now to consider how you can strengthen your IT security prevention.

If so, let’s chat. PK Tech helps small to medium-sized businesses in the Greater Phoenix Area across a variety of different industries. Contact us here if we can help your business.