Security budget challenges: Why Your Security Needs More Than Funding

Part 1 of A CEOs guide to security: an experts essential insights series

As a CEO or senior manager do you ever find yourself thinking:

Why am I receiving numerous expense requests and budget increases from security? What is prompting these additional financial needs? I allocate a budget for security at the start of each year, yet it consistently falls short. If there haven’t been security issues, why the increased spending? Why are we halting operations for yet another round of security training? How many sessions are planned, and why is there such a high frequency? What is causing the delays in our deliverables? Are these work stoppages related to compliance or security issues that weren’t previously known?

These are excellent and perfectly reasonable questions. In this article, I will clarify the reasons behind these requests and propose solutions.

Every company, regardless of size, is organized into departments for various reasons. This includes providing knowledgeable managers tailored to each department, grouping similar roles to enhance productivity, and ensuring expertise in overseeing and reporting departmental needs and successes to upper management.

The fundamental issue here is that each departmental expert is primarily focused on two roles: their job responsibilities within their department and their managerial duties. They excel in their specific roles and have little incentive to delve into the intricacies of other departments. Naturally, their primary concern revolves around meeting the needs and advancing the actions of their own department.

This results in every department requesting budgets, trainings, events, equipment, etc., each believing theirs is of utmost importance. While the CEO and upper management prioritize the company’s success through its products or services, they also recognize that not every department can always be top priority, even though each department contributes to overall success.

How does this specifically relate to the security department and its budget?

While all department heads excel in their respective roles and contribute significantly to the company’s overall success, the impact of security issues on your business can be swift and profound.

Compliance with government regulation is required for the continuity of your company’s government contract or contracts. With the ever-increasing application of CMMC control requirements this is now true of both your classified and unclassified networks and systems. These regulations each come with a set of controls that must be met. However, the government doesn’t always instruct on how to meet those requirements. For example, a common requirement is that you must have a vulnerability scanner. This requirement does not tell the security team which tool to use, what brand it should be, what company to purchase from, or even the level of scanning required. Another good example is the requirement that states audit logs must be reviewed. This requirement doesn’t even specify that a tool is required.

These both seem very vague; how can a government regulation not specify what to use or how to accomplish a thing? The government does understand that all businesses and companies are not created equally. Each company varies in type, size, funding, revenue and each contract holds different requirements. A solution that works well for a large corporation with several locations is usually not the same solution that fits for a small or medium-sized company. Knowing all of this the government left room for tailoring.

It is the responsibility of your security department, service, or consultant to complete a comprehensive analysis on the contract needs, compliance requirements, budget constraints, network or system size, and other pertinent factors. This level of analysis is required to determine what tailored security solution is needed and how best to incorporate it into the overall security program. Such in-depth analysis is required for all security compliance items because while the company must meet compliance obligations to maintain contracts, generate revenue and securely protect its data, the company must also consider its overall budget. There is a saying in security that often gets forgotten –you never want too little security, and you never want too much security, the correct amount of security is just enough security.

Requests from your security team should not be disregarded or ignored. This can lead to many problems such as security gaps and non-compliance. It can also make the security team and the entire company feel as though security is not important. Your security professionals may feel as though security isn’t valued therefore, I am not valued and find another job. Your other employees may become complacent with security or have a complete disregard for security practices, putting the company at risk.

Two major problems can occur if you have a rotating door of security individuals, a security staff that has become complacent, or employees in other departments being lax with or disregarding security regulations.

1. Failure to meet and maintain security compliance:

If your authorizing official discovers that you have failed to meet compliance standards, they can shut down the system that you need to complete your contracts. This means more money you must spend fixing the problems and getting into compliance and working with the authorizing official to get the system back. This means you are out the cost of the corrections, hours paid to security spent working on the corrections, and the hours key personnel spent unable to complete work on the system while it was getting fixed.

1. Data breach:

Being out of compliance can lead to data breaches which will halt work and require a lot of time spent investigating and analyzing what happened, what went wrong, and who all was involved. You must report the breach, all related findings, and the plan to prevent or mitigate future breaches to the authorizing official for review and approval. This issue comes with all the costs associated with number one plus it can affect your company’s reputation and could possibly cause you to lose contracts, current and future.

How do you ensure your company has just enough security? How do you ensure you are meeting compliance, staying relatively within the bounds of your budget, and avoiding the two major issues we discussed above?

1. Be involved- engage with your security staff, find out what they need and why. Ask them to complete a comprehensive analysis of the software, tool, training, or program. The analysis should include the cost of the item and the time needed or saved, compliance implications, and potential disadvantages. You may also want to find out if they have discussed it with the authorizing official and if compliance can be met without it or with something different.

1. Strategic planning – incorporate required security items into long term and short-term budget planning. This would include things like projections for future growth, refreshes, upgrades, and POAM’d items.

1. Continuous monitoring – having a detailed and implemented process of ensuring that the system is just as secure or more secure than when it was approved. A well-planned continuous monitoring process allows for the reminder of the importance of security throughout the company and helps discover and resolve any issues before they become detrimental.

1. Streamlined policy, procedure, and training – finding innovative ways to meet compliance and training needs without pulling key personnel away from their primary job for hours at a time. This saves the company money and helps ensure that employees pay close attention to the training they receive.

1. Partnering with PHOENIX – we specialize in providing tailored programs, policies, procedures, and strategic planning to support companies in meeting compliance requirements while optimizing budgetary allocations. Our expertise ensures your security programs are not just compliant but also economically sustainable, safeguarding your operations from potential risks.

Managing your security budget effectively involves teamwork and foresight from senior management and the security team. By staying engaged, planning strategically, implementing continuous monitoring, and allocating resources wisely, companies can meet regulations and keep operations strong. For additional information or questions regarding services, reach out to our team – 938-205-4341 or info@phoenix-cia.com