How to manage cybersecurity budget effectively in 2024 

Is your cybersecurity budget ready to resist all the evolving threats in 2024? Find out how to prioritize expenses and reinforce your cyber protection based on our software product development company experience! 

Cybercriminals aim to exploit vulnerabilities of your systems in case you don’t take cybersecurity seriously and responsibly. In 2023, the average data breach cost across all sectors worldwide was 4.45 million U.S. dollars, while a leaked data record cost about 165 U.S. dollars. 

Companies are eager to maintain a robust cybersecurity posture, but the questions are the following: how does a company need to plan its budget to cover all cybersecurity requirements without wasting money? What resources should you spend money on? Which cyber risks to pay attention to?

This article gives all the answers and tips on how to distribute cybersecurity budgets to navigate evolving threats efficiently.

Cybersecurity landscape 2024

Cybersecurity budgets are increasing as a consequence of emerging threats and the awareness of businesses that even one attack can result in huge financial losses. 

Key industry disruptions are:

• Progressive AI technologies adoption. 
• The escalation of geopolitical turmoil and economic unpredictability.
• Massive volume of data and cloud infrastructure complexity. 

Security challenges organizations face are:

• Ransomware attacks
• Social engineering
• Widespread data breaches
• Regulatory pressure

Estimating cybersecurity needs of your organization

Cybersecurity budgeting is a composite procedure that includes technology, operations, compliance, and comprehensive management. Companies require a holistic multi-sector approach, powerful leadership, effective communication with stakeholders, and meticulous preparation to address cybersecurity challenges beneficially.

The first stage in regulating your budget is assessing the needs of your company and its current cybersecurity posture based on the following factors.

Size

Large companies (with more than 10,000 employees) need a cybersecurity budget larger than smaller organizations do. Still, smaller businesses often distribute more of their overall IT budget to security than large organizations. 

Relevant tools in use

Organizations building an in-house security operations center (SOC) may have higher upfront costs compared to those investing in multiple or co-managed solutions. 

Employee competence

Hiring skilled employees can be a notable part of cybersecurity budgets.

Compliance and risk profile

Compliance with state requirements on safeguarding sensitive data sets is crucial. Industries with strict regulatory regulations, such as finance and healthcare, usually need to spend more resources for compliance measures than other sectors. 

Developing a sophisticated budget strategy

A Statista 2023 report states that 80% of business and technology executives worldwide predict a rise in the cybersecurity budget of their companies for 2024. Let’s find out how you can optimize your cybersecurity budget according to different categories.

Software investment

While thinking of software tools, like antivirus software, firewalls, auditing systems, and backup solutions, you must consider upfront costs and ongoing expenditures. On average, a company implements around 76 security tools: 21% of the cybersecurity budget might be spent on off-premises software and 9% on on-premises software, according to IANS.

Human resource allocation

Competent cybersecurity experts are in great demand. Human resources can take up a big part of your cybersecurity budget. 

A powerful cybersecurity team usually includes the following positions:

• Security analysts
• Security engineers
• Security Operations Center manager
• Chief Information Security Officer

Outsourcing

Many companies outsource such services as vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, compliance checks, a security architecture review, and monitoring services, and you can, too.

Training matters

The budget should cover regular training programs to train your employees to resist cybersecurity challenges and implement best practices to ensure security. 

Keeping complied  

Regulatory requirements involve compliance-related expenses, which includes reporting, audit preparation, and hiring a data protection officer.

Security incident preparation

It is vital to remain prepared for any security occurrence. Security incident costs include expenses for investigations, legal proceedings, compliance penalties, and efforts in public relations and customer compensation.

How to magnify cybersecurity ROI

Economic uncertainty results in facing tighter budgets by CISOs. Failure to allocate sufficient funds for cybersecurity may lead to notable risks, that’s why companies should perform an in-depth evaluation of the ROI for security measures. They must seek to balance expenses with risk-reduction results.

Critical assets focus

Prioritize critical assets of your company to keep your cybersecurity strategy effective. The essential ones are servers and privileged accounts. In a financial institution, for instance, this may refer to the central banking system and accounts with administrative control over critical financial operations. 

Strategic investment fields

Assess cybersecurity investments, resolve conflicts, and focus on the aspects that balance cost and risk reduction.

Automation is essential

Find out which processes you can automate to optimize workflows and save costs. Analyze existing SLAs to make sure that they adhere to the necessary cybersecurity regulations.

Applying and tracking your budget plan

Monitor your budget

To track cybersecurity budget, follow the following steps:

• Perform a cost-benefit analysis for all cybersecurity measures
• Identify and record KPIs 
• Track the effect of cybersecurity measures 
• Ask for feedback from employees and customers 
• Use net present value (NPV) analysis

Implement a GRC framework

Compose a GRC framework to manage cyber risk and ensure compliance with industry requirements throughout the fiscal year. 

Be ready for unexpected financial losses

Companies must adapt and reinforce cybersecurity strategies to efficiently navigate evolving challenges. Still, it is essential to be ready for the unexpected expenses and have a security budget buffer in case of incidents.

Conclusion

The progressive number of data breaches and cyberattacks globally emphasizes the vital need for reliable cybersecurity measures in all sectors. Treating cybersecurity as a continuous process ensures resistance against emerging cyber threats.

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