Guide To Convincing Your Boss To Upgrade Your Cybersecurity Stack

As an employee, your personal information is in the hands of your employers. It should be up to them to keep that information safe, but what if they are falling behind on their cybersecurity upgrades? You could be at risk of a data breach whether you are employed by a big or small company. So it’s important to keep your boss on top of this. In order to know the best way to do so, follow these steps:<ol><li>Lean Into It</li></ol>Start off by describing why you think your cybersecurity stack is outdated. Describe to your boss the <a href="https://www.anomali.com/blog/5-signs-you-have-an-outdated-cybersecurity-infrastructure">different symptoms</a> you’ve been experiencing or the research you’ve been conducting on the matter. They may shrug it off or tell you that IT is handling it, but if you have it on good authority not to believe them, then you need to push this a bit further. Ask for a deadline for when the problem will be fixed and try to discuss how your boss plans on getting it fixed. They might say it isn’t your concern or that they’re too busy to talk about it right now. As soon as you feel like you’ve pushed enough, back off and move on to step 2.<ol start="2"><li>Recite The Risks</li></ol>A lot of companies don’t take cybersecurity as seriously as they should because they either don’t think a data breach would happen to them, or they believe they have more important things to worry about. That’s where you come in. You should go to your boss with the details about why you care, why he/she should care, and what could happen if you <a href="https://www.anomali.com/blog/when-to-escalate-threat-detection">wait too long</a>. Tell them that cybersecurity incidents have <a href="http://www.pwc.com/gsiss" target="_blank">increased by 38% </a>since 2014 and that, if your cybersecurity software is outdated, it takes about 200 days before an attacker is discovered. That’s 200 days of someone secretly stealing valuable information and draining the company of its money.<ol start="3"><li>Research The Cost</li></ol>One of the biggest objections to cybersecurity is <a href="http://www.biztechmagazine.com/article/2015/10/data-breach-costs-are-high-small-businesses" target="_blank">the cost</a>. Many companies believe it’s too expensive to update software, but what they don’t realize is that the risk they are taking by not updating could cost them a lot more. Malicious cyber attacks cost the US anywhere from $300 billion to $1 trillion a year. For businesses specifically, the average single data breach costs $3.5 million a year. So let your boss know that the investment is worth the amount of savings that will be made.<ol start="4"><li>Provide Possible Software Solutions</li></ol>After letting your boss know the specific dangers that come with outdated cybersecurity and how much money can be saved by having a great cybersecurity software system, go to them with possible software solutions; they can’t use the excuse of being too busy because you’ve done the research for them. One option you should offer is a piece of software that is an add-on to the security system your company already has. This will leverage the existing security investment while providing more data protection. Or maybe they might want something that’s <a href="https://www.anomali.com/products/match">specific to your business’s IT environment</a>. In that case, offer software that deals with big data problems without pushing tens of millions of IOCs into the already overburdened SIEM. But no matter what you choose to show your boss, make sure it has an automatic update feature. That will be your hook because they’ll know they won’t have to deal with it again for a while.Being part of a company that needs to upgrade their cybersecurity stack is frustrating when you’re not the one in charge. It can lead to a lot of dangerous scenarios for your personal data, which is why it’s important for you to confront your boss about it. If you follow these steps, you’ll be sure to get your boss to upgrade to the proper software.If you’re interested in learning how to build a threat intelligence program, download this free white paper today!<a class="cta_button" cta_dest_link="{page_3451}" href="https://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/ctas/v2/public/cs/c/?cta_guid=0a81b108-0c35-466f-8ccb-36ff661bc040&placement_guid=f68f0b2e-fb62-48eb-acd6-8b2ad6455083&portal_id=458120&redirect_url=APefjpFKchQg4KP3gzGH32CYeb780Px3TR6wbPSjefWN5i3fp1bkM7eH6v4ArsDSc2D6bS7AGtpUKCzmDeOeba223xoho3CX8GMjB2RDRrXR72Okt3a-6q-gZVUwmwXj6UyYZTQHccZNovhnOBAj7q45vNyrUICs6A9VcO387SVXFH80N2d7hDZyw-GeoE23qe4UABIMNOLOGmvW6952_V3gtMDQTiOaULMVAMiJq6g72Riq3vR9_YYfQZ5i-h7ZSlz8p5YOPUZbt1N1Egt12r928Cg9-XCULTANZROli9cy_bmX87uiQQavM9YSiczHdydqLRcNOBaA-GLhYNvwiMSUqoAgwoY1eg&hsutk=2767d93d6471d657e0c9f660e4b58ef8&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.anomali.com%2Fguide-to-convincing-your-boss-to-upgrade-your-cybersecurity-stack&canon=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.anomali.com%2Fguide-to-convincing-your-boss-to-upgrade-your-cybersecurity-stack&pageId=4249331460&__hstc=41179005.2767d93d6471d657e0c9f660e4b58ef8.1456736058655.1478831861868.1478887113345.180&__hssc=41179005.45.1478887113345&__hsfp=1335165674" id="cta_button_458120_0a81b108-0c35-466f-8ccb-36ff661bc040" style="margin: 20px auto;" target="_blank" title="View It Here">View It Here </a> <script charset="utf-8" src="https://js.hscta.net/cta/current.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">hbspt.cta.load(458120, 'f68f0b2e-fb62-48eb-acd6-8b2ad6455083', {});</script>