Why your nonprofit needs a cybersecurity assessment

Cybersecurity threats are growing daily, exposing companies of all sizes to malicious attacks.

Yet many nonprofit organizations still don’t proactively protect constituent and financial data, or operational systems from compromise or damage.

Because you are a nonprofit (and possibly on the smaller side), it may be tempting to think you’re not a target for hackers or cybercriminals.

However, the statistics tell a different story –

• 43% of cyberattacks target small organizations
• 60% of companies victimized by ransomware were SMBs

Employees are oftentimes a weak link, unintentionally exposing data through phishing emails and weak passwords.

Data breaches are costly to fix, but they can also do lasting damage to an organization’s reputation and ability to win or retain donors and volunteers over the long term. This is why every nonprofit organization, small or large, needs to make cybersecurity a top priority.

A comprehensive cybersecurity assessment will pinpoint specific vulnerabilities unique to your organization’s IT systems- empowering you to begin a cyber protection roadmap to reduce risk and exposure.

Reasons Your Nonprofit Needs to Invest in a Cybersecurity Assessment

Gain Visibility across Your Entire IT Infrastructure

Many nonprofits are operating partially blind in terms of cyber risk. An in-depth assessment will provide you with total visibility into strengths and vulnerabilities with insight into your people, processes, and technology, enabling you to set priorities for improvement.

Determine Cybersecurity Preparedness

Assessing your organization’s preventative and detective cybersecurity tools and countermeasures helps you know how to enhance your security awareness and risk management policies and procedures.

Cybersecurity assessments will determine capabilities and best practices, along with a gap analysis and a strategy for making measurable improvements.

Test Effectiveness of Existing Security

Even when cybersecurity improvements have been made, implemented tools and strategies may not work as intended, or may not work at all. A cybersecurity assessment tests existing controls through various methods like simulated phishing attacks and attempts to penetrate networked systems and cloud apps by mimicking techniques used by real hackers. This helps organizations identify where security improvements are required.

Instill Consumer Trust

Donors, volunteers and other constituents care deeply about the protection of their personal and financial information, and business partners want to be assured that the security of their systems will not be compromised. Cybersecurity assessments verify existing security checkpoints and validate that appropriate measures are in place to safeguard data. This can also ensure compliance with privacy laws and important cyber insurance policies.

Cybersecurity Tips to Keep Your Data Safe

• Make cyber risk control a top-level priority and budget for continuous assessments, testing and ongoing upgrades.
• Require security awareness training and simulated phishing tests for all personnel. Phishing remains the #1 threat.
• Restrict access controls and limit employee access to only the data and network resources necessary to fulfill job duties.
• Prioritize patching for internet-facing systems. A high proportion of exploits target vulnerabilities for which a patch already exists but has not been implemented.
• Ensure backups are performed routinely encrypted and secured via multi-factor authentication.

Key Takeaways

• Nonprofit organizations are prime targets for cyber hackers.
• Assessments reveal vulnerabilities and ensure security controls are effective.
• Assessments make cyber risk and preparedness management actionable and measurable over time.
• Restrict access, train personnel, patch aggressively and backup/restore to complement technical controls.
• Cybersecurity assessments like annual check-ups are essential to maintain robust health and substantially reduce breach risk.

In a world where cybersecurity threats are evolving rapidly, safeguarding your organization is not a choice—it’s a necessity. We understand that securing your organization’s digital assets is an time consuming and complex task.

Click below to get started performing a cyber assessment that can help you implement and maintain cyber solutions to enhance your overall security posture.