Security through a downturn

Economic uncertainty is driving many organizations to revisit their overall cost efficiency. Depressed revenues (largely resulting from COVID-19) are driving a hunt for operating cost reduction and the preservation of working capital. No organizational function can be expected to be shielded from cost pressure, including cyber security.

Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) should anticipate pressure on their program budgets and proactively identify measures to contain their costs while delicately balancing ‘future-proofing’ the ever-evolving threat landscape.

In Security through a downturn, we explore five key problem areas and corresponding cost optimization strategies that CISOs should consider. The various approaches depend very much on where you are in the cost optimization journey. Some of these are more tactical, where the focus is on improving performance to generate ongoing efficiencies and some more structural and strategic, so that while some investment is required, the results will yield a significant return on security investment.