Why should businesses invest in cybersecurity?
Case Study #1: Why should businesses invest in cybersecurity?
Case Scenario:
A client company has asked your cybersecurity consulting firm to provide it with a 2 to 3 page white
paper which discusses the business need for investments in cybersecurity. The purpose of this white
paper is to “fill in the gaps” in a business case that was already prepared by the company’s Chief
Information Officer. The target audience for your paper is the company’s C-suite executives. These
executives will be meeting later this month to discuss budget requests from department heads. The
company has requested that your white paper use the same investment categories as are already in use
for the CIO’s business case: people, processes, and technologies.
Research that will help you to do the assignment
1. Find three or more additional sources that provide information about ethics as applied to
investments in cybersecurity. Suggested sources include:
a. http://insights.ethisphere.com/the-power-of-information-and-business-of-ethical-
responsibility/
b. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/business-ethics/resources/cyber-security-and-the-
obligations-of-companies/
c.
https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/labor_law/2015/march/tech/wu_cybersecurity
.authcheckdam.pdf
2. Find three or more additional sources that provide information about best practice
recommendations for investing in people, processes, and technologies related to cybersecurity. These
additional sources can include analyst reports (e.g. Gartner, Forrester, Price-Waterhouse, Booz-Allen)
and/or news stories about recent attacks / threats, data breaches, cybercrime, cyber terrorism, etc.
Assignment:
Write a two to three-page summary of your research. At a minimum, your summary must include the
following:
1. An introduction or overview of cybersecurity which provides definitions and addresses the
business need for cybersecurity. This introduction should be suitable for an executive audience.
2. A separate section in which you address ethical considerations that drive the business need for
investments in cybersecurity.
