Ensuring your company has a strong cybersecurity posture in the order of the day in the modern world. How can you make a business case for investing in this technology?
In a recent post by Diligent, the company underlined some key ideas for getting started in this area and improving your cybersecurity stance.
Firstly, the firm highlighted it is important to meet with the company’s board to discuss business objectives.
Diligent said, “While building a comprehensive cybersecurity program, it’s important to tie the program in with your overall business goals. Meet with the board to discuss their priorities so that you can understand how best to protect the organization. And by identifying the security vulnerabilities around your key business goals, you’ll be able to formulate a strategic plan for building an effective response.”
The business also underlined that you should appoint dedicated stakeholders to be responsible for managing and monitoring the risks that fall under their domain, “You should also identify your organization’s risk appetite for each type of activity. How willing is the business to take on certain types of risk based on the potential upside? Inventory all of the risk factors in your organization’s strategic plan and prioritize them by risk tolerance and the likelihood of occurring, plus the potential impact.”
Businesses should also focus on calculating the costs involved in mitigating the risks a company has.
Diligent said, “Once you’ve inventoried your risks, it’s time to look at the costs involved in mitigating them. Identify what resources you would need for support, both technology and staffing requirements, and map out a detailed budget that showcases top, middle, and lower tier priorities.
“Plan out long-term objectives to be carried out over a period of a couple of years, as well as shorter-term wins that can be completed immediately within your existing budget.”
Companies also need to understand their return on investment. When looking at their budget, firms need to balance what they will spend on mitigating risk against the potential cost savings they would realise by lowering it.
Diligent remarked, “When considering ROI, you can point to cost-savings such as a reduced cybersecurity insurance premium when you have a strong program in place. You’ll also find that building more effective risk management controls will help reduce your risk of fraud, minimising your company’s losses from financial crimes that might otherwise go unnoticed.
“By moving to a more efficient, highly automated risk management solution, you’ll also be able to substantially reduce the amount of manual labour your risk management department gets stuck with, allowing your team to focus more heavily on strategic work rather than day-to-day compliance requirements.”
Companies should also set up a stronger internal controls system that will help their organisation gain a more competitive edge when soliciting new business. Detailing potential cost-savings in financial terms and as other advantages, will help you to win buy-in from the board and executives, Diligent claims.
From here, a business must choose a cyber risk management solution.
Diligent said, “When considering choices, look for a platform that will integrate with existing systems, including your ERP solution and accounting software, so that you can collect and analyse all of your business data in one platform. Your solution should also be accessible to your entire risk management team for seamless collaboration, so that they can share insights and support one another’s work.
“In order to analyze your cyber risk landscape and identify trends that warrant action, you need a solution that has in-depth analytical capabilities and provides real-time analysis, along with an alert system for elevated risk and action items. With timely data in hand, you’ll be able to generate a wide range of reports and visuals that you can bring to your executive stakeholders to support business decision-making efforts.
“With a best-in-class cyber risk management platform, your business will be better prepared, not only to meet your compliance objectives, but to manage and mitigate against a large number of risk factors that could arise, ensuring your company’s stability and giving you the confidence to make strategic business decisions that can impact your future risk levels.”
Find the full post here.
Diligent has partnered with capital markets communications platform Q4 to provide pre-IPO and public companies with IR and board governance solutions.
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