What Every CFO Should Know About Security Breaches

What Every CFO Should Know About Security Breaches: “The Ponemon Institute estimates that the cost of the average data breach — the average, mind you — is over $5 million,” said Len Moodispaw, CEO of KEYW, a consulting firm that focuses on cybersecurity and counter-terrorism defense. “What that says is that it pays to make the right [security] decisions from a financial perspective.”
Nick Savage, a special agent for the FBI’s cybercrime branch, agreed. “Five million dollars may be simply the cost of doing business if you’re a large organization, or if you are very small, it could put you out of business,” he said. “The threat actors we see are very persistent and very patient, so the [financial] decisions you make need to take that into account.”
The panelists encouraged CFOs to be willing to spend money on security — but to be educated about what they are spending it on.
“In some ways, security is IT’s revenge on the finance department — they say, ‘You don’t understand what we do, so we’ll spend your money however we like,” joked Kevin Mandia, CEO of security forensics firm Mandiant. “As a CFO, you need to understand something about the security issue. For example, you can invest in a compliance program, or you can invest in an actual security program. A full security program will cost you more, but in the end, it may save you more.”