It seems that every office has its troubles. For instance, you might have a finicky printer that just won't connect to your laptop. It's so frustrating, but thankfully your office assistant is more than happy to help you out. It's so nice to have an OA around, you tell yourself.
But what happens when a bigger problem rears its ugly head and no one is in the office to help you out? What if you open your computer in the morning to find that ransomware has locked your device right before a big pitch meeting? Yikes!
It's moments like these that drive organizations to adopt their own in-house cybersecurity teams. Below CyberPolicy examines some of the benefits of the in-house model and prescribes ways employees can work together to further the goal of cyber resiliency. Of course, cyber liability insurance coverage is an inseparable part of the equation as well.
IT Is in the House
One of the advantages of an in-house IT team is that they can address your problems right away; much like the OA in the introduction. A specialist, on the other hand, might have other clients with arguably more time-sensitive issues on their hands. Even so, that's not much consolation when you can't even open your work presentation due to a ransomware virus.
Another benefit is that these employees will be attuned to your company's specific needs. Perhaps one of the most demoralizing developments in cyber defense in the last 20 years is that blocking hackers requires a laundry list of applications. For example, you'll need web application firewalls, network analyzers, distributed denial-of-service mitigation software, etc. Hiring an in-house security team cuts through the fog by allowing this team to assess the threats most likely to hit your business and adjusting strategy accordingly.
Not to mention that in-house defenders are more likely to be emotionally invested in your company's digital health by the simple fact that they work in your building.
And since these folks are your coworkers, you can easily bring them into your quarterly cybersecurity training sessions to discuss problems they've seen in the workplace and prescribe ways to improve them.
Of course, that's not to say that agencies don't care - they do. Actually, many organizations prefer to outsource their defense options instead. There are a few reasons for this including the difficulty of finding candidates with specialized skills or even the perceived savings of hiring an agency rather than hiring a whole team.
However, this debate is far from settled. Some even argue an in-house IT team is easier to budget for because the cost is the same every month; whereas an outsourced agency is generally paid by the number of hours they log, which can be pricey following a major cyberattack.
In the end, it's really up to you and your organization's goals or needs. But whatever you decide, it's vital to invest in cyber liability insurance coverage from a reputable provider. Otherwise you'll be stuck with the heavy financial costs associated with cyberattacks and data breaches.
For more information, visit CyberPolicy today!
