{
    "title": "Budget planning: determining your security spend",
    "url": "https://expel.com/blog/budget-planning-determining-security-spend/",
    "date": "Oct 16, 2017",
    "contents": "Subscribe \u00d7 EXPEL BLOG Budget planning: determining your security spend Security operations \u00b7 4 MIN READ \u00b7 BRUCE POTTER \u00b7 OCT 16, 2017 \u00b7 TAGS: Budget / Management / Planning It\u2019s a common question: \u201cHow much should I spend on cybersecurity?\u201d Looking at your peers, analyst guidance, and postings on random security companies\u2019 websites, it\u2019s a difficult question. And there\u2019s not a one-size-fits-all answer. It may seem counterintuitive, but how much you spend on security is really a trailing indicator of how your company views security. In corporate life, we\u2019re asked to set a budget long before we\u2019ll actually spend the money. So, we talk to our staff, we talk to company leadership and we attend conferences to figure out what we should be doing about cybersecurity and cyber risk management in our organization. Then we put together a budget, which gets kicked around for a while before it\u2019s eventually approved. A few months later we, start finally spending those budget dollars. But by that time we\u2019re really implementing our vision of security as it was 6 or even 12 months ago. What bucket are you in? What your vision is depends a lot on how your company views cybersecurity. I\u2019ve found most organizations fall into one of five buckets. Do any of these sound familiar? Security as an enabler ($$$$) \u2013 These are businesses that view cybersecurity as a differentiator to their service or product. They\u2019re implementing \u201cleading edge\u201d security solutions in an effort to set them apart from the pack. Risk based ($$$) \u2013 Organizations that have risk-based cybersecurity are constantly making tradeoffs between required security controls and their risk appetite. While spending in these organizations can be high, it\u2019s also organized and controlled. Security as a requirement ($$) \u2013 Some businesses use regulatory and industry requirements to guide their spend. This is often less expensive than a risk-based approach but it won\u2019t have the same coverage of controls. Yet another piece of IT ($) \u2013 In these organizations, security is managed like IT spend, which for the most part means minimizing cost and not pulling from the bottom line. Reactionary ($?*!$) \u2013 This is the \u201clet the winds blow us where they may\u201d strategy of cybersecurity. When things go badly, there\u2019s a large spend. When they go well, the spend is minimal. Real Dollars By now I\u2019m guessing you\u2019ve plotted what bucket your organization is in. But practically, how big are those dollar signs? According to Gartner , cybersecurity spend can vary from 1% to 13% of the overall IT budget. That\u2019s a pretty big range that doesn\u2019t speak well to the maturity of the state of the security profession. At the low end of that spend, you\u2019ll have organizations with minimal security controls and security incidents that go undetected and unaddressed for long periods of time. At the high end, you\u2019ve got armies of dedicated staff, heavy tolling and engaged executives sponsoring cybersecurity initiatives. Be aware, though, that absolute dollars are only one measurement. It\u2019s important to understand where this money is being spent\u2026 or more appropriately where it could be spent. Cybersecurity spend comes in many forms including staff, security software, hardware, contractor support, and outside services. Depending on your needs, you\u2019ll find you get different levels of value depending on which buckets you spend your dollars in. For instance, in a small organization that is sensitive to hiring more staff, contract support or outside services may be a better bet than ramping up staffing. In larger, more sophisticated organizations, spending on software and hardware that automates existing security controls and processes may be the best thing you can do. Each approach has a different price tag and will affect where you land on the one to 13 percent spectrum. Find your focus (aka it\u2019s all about outcomes) If you\u2019re struggling to figure out what type of security organization you\u2019re trying to be and what your long-term strategy is, my advice is to focus on your desired outcomes \u2013 both in proactive and reactive situations. Ask yourself: \u201cWhat outcomes do I want, and when do they need to be possible?\u201d Combine the answers to help focus your initial budget thinking\u2026 or at least rationalize your planned spend and set company expectations on realistic outcomes. If your budget and expectations don\u2019t match (typically the budget is too small to meet the desired expectations) you need to do one of three things: 1) get more budget, 2) right-size expectations, 3) find a new job proactively because this story won\u2019t end well and you will likely be the scapegoat. Avoiding the trap door when you\u2019re in the breach zone There will always be ebbs and flows when it comes to how much money there is to go around. Everyone has lived through a budget crunch at some point and had to tighten belts and live off less. On the flip side, if you\u2019ve suffered a major security event recently, your budget likely got a bump to help you deal with the breach, response activities, and remediation. I call this the \u201cbreach zone\u201d. If you\u2019ve been there you\u2019ve probably also witnessed the \u201cpanic spending\u201d that typically follows. Spending that windfall quickly is often seen as a proxy for progress. But it can also be a trap that sets you up for failure down the line. Why? Panic spending often results in buying products and services you don\u2019t ultimately get value from. What\u2019s worse is that you\u2019re then stuck paying for those products out into the future \u2013 increasing your long-term budget needs even more with things you don\u2019t need. Not to mention the time it takes to maintain them. It\u2019s a bit like stretching to afford a sports car but then you realize you can\u2019t afford the expensive gas and insurance. A healthier approach is to use the specter of a breach to drive your budgeting process. If you\u2019re lucky enough to have escaped a breach, congrats. Pretend you have and go back to that outcome-based approach I talked about earlier. What do you need? What would you want to change in your org to achieve them? What investments would you make and what would you do differently? Use those answers to guide your budget process. Scenario based budget planning can help you build a budget for the security you\u2019re likely to need and ensure your spend is on target with what your organization requires in the future. Finding your spend Based on all this, the question still stands: \u201cHow much should I spend on cybersecurity?\u201d The answer to that question is unique to each organization. As I said at the start, there\u2019s no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on your maturity, current capabilities, executive support, and threat model; you may have wildly different spending needs than your peers. But there are some things you can do to find the budget that\u2019s right for you. Review your past spend and do an assessment. Did you get the results you want? What would you have done differently? Tabletop some terrible events like breaches and insider attacks. What would you need to respond? What would you need to stop it from happening? Use these answers to drive your budget and spending decisions. And remember that your budget is your own. Just because another organization is spending more or less doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re getting the results you want."
}