Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
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Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#2It's sad because it's true. In 2018 the data protection EU regulation gets put into play though, which might change that partially by effectively increasing the cost of losing control of data.
Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#3One reason it's true is because companies only measure actual cost, not opportunity cost. How much did it cost Yahoo to have every tech-savvy person in the world switch to Gmail because of Yahoo's lousy (and Google's excellent) security infrastructure? Where the tech-savvy go, the tech-unsavvy often follow. As they did with Gmail.
But lost revenue opportunities don't show up in the bottom line, so cost-focused managers don't think about them. And they conclude it's "cheaper" to not invest in this or that thing that their smarter competitors are doing.
"What gets measure gets managed." People think this (apocryphal) Drucker quote is advice. It is not advice. It's a warning.
Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#4Yes, you notice it when you deal with sites where bad security can be costly, like on a (bit)coin exchange (i.e. Bittrex). You get an email at every successful login, 2FA is encouraged from the start, enabling the API keys requires 2FA, Google reCAPTCHA at every login, logout as soon as you close the browser, api keys with different levels of functionality, API requires SHA512 hashing of API key and API code and a time fingerprint. It's pretty refreshing to be honest.
Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#5You see this in users as well.
I don't monitor the Apple forums nowadays, but it was common in the early switcher days to have people asking how to disable UNIX security and make it work just like Windows 9x.
Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#6One reason it's true is because companies only measure actual cost, not opportunity cost. How much did it cost Yahoo to have every tech-savvy person in the world switch to Gmail because of Yahoo's lousy (and Google's excellent) security infrastructure? Where the tech-savvy go, the tech-unsavvy often follow. As they did with Gmail. But lost revenue opportunities don't show up in the bottom line, so cost-focused manage…
Not sure I agree that it was Google and Yahoo's respective security architecture that caused people to switch, even tech-savvy people.
Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#7I am sick of seeing headlines about teenager hacker being put in jail.
It's not because they are geniuses it's because of poor IT defense.
The companies should be severely fined for criminal negligence.
Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#8Yes, you notice it when you deal with sites where bad security can be costly, like on a (bit)coin exchange (i.e. Bittrex). You get an email at every successful login, 2FA is encouraged from the start, enabling the API keys requires 2FA, Google reCAPTCHA at every login, logout as soon as you close the browser, api keys with different levels of functionality, API requires SHA512 hashing of API key and API code and a ti…
Seriously? Bitfinex was the latest, greatest bitcoin business with a security breach, and they just pushed the losses onto their customers. Bad security at bitcoin exchanges does not generally affect the company itself, but the users.
Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#9One reason it's true is because companies only measure actual cost, not opportunity cost. How much did it cost Yahoo to have every tech-savvy person in the world switch to Gmail because of Yahoo's lousy (and Google's excellent) security infrastructure? Where the tech-savvy go, the tech-unsavvy often follow. As they did with Gmail. But lost revenue opportunities don't show up in the bottom line, so cost-focused manage…
Not sure I agree that it was Google and Yahoo's respective security architecture that caused people to switch, even tech-savvy people.
Fully agreed. It was all about a lot of free storage space.
Re: Sad reality: It's cheaper to get hacked than build strong IT defenses
#10All we have to know that it really doesn't matter to the business world despite all the drama in corporate IT over security (if that) is that Apple, Target, and Home Depot are having great quarters after their security breaches so any consumer backlash is materially ineffective even if people do care - not enough care.