January 23, 2003

News Factor: The Art of Budgeting for IT Security Breaches

My spin: Your budget for security is not going to be as complex as a larger enterprise. However you should carefull consider a quality investment in the digital security of your business.

Total security for a corporate network may be a goal of many IT executives, but no matter how much a company invests in security systems, breaches -- originating either outside or inside a corporate network -- are a fact of life in the information age.

Given that security incidents are inevitable, how can IT executives budget for them, earmarking funds to cover staff overtime, replace hardware and software, and pay security specialists to investigate an attack? After all, it is difficult to quantify losses due to a breach, especially when no company wants to admit that they occur. Moreover, in an era of IT belt-tightening, requests for money "just in case" may not be greeted warmly by boards of directors. (full story)

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