How Can Cyber Security Help Non-Profits Be More Secure?

Since nonprofit organizations advocate for social causes instead of generating revenue, they often have smaller budgets compared to for-profit organizations. Most of their funding comes from the government or private foundations. They also run fundraising events, seek grants, and solicit donations to augment their income. As a result, the budget of typical nonprofits can be unpredictable, so they have to carefully choose how to spend their money. They must let go of some expenses in favor of more important ones for them to stay within their spending capacity.

The need for cybersecurity

But if there's one expense nonprofits shouldn't sacrifice, it's cybersecurity. Without cybersecurity, nonprofits become more prone to attacks, which can give way to data breaches. This is a major concern because nonprofits are favorite targets of cybercriminals in the first place.

Websites ending in .org — which many nonprofits' sites do — are ranked higher in Google search results, giving them higher visibility. In addition, the data processed by nonprofits is valuable, such as financial details of donors and records of bank transactions. Cybercriminals would love to get their hands on this kind of data for nefarious purposes.

The price of data breaches

Unfortunately, for nonprofits with their limited budgets, data breaches are costly for the following reasons: First, the affected organization loses the opportunity to generate funds because of downtime and disrupted operations; second, the organization spends on legal fees to ward off lawsuits; and third, the organization pays fines to the government and settlement damages to claimants.

But that's just the monetary loss. There's also reputational loss in which lack of trust by the public leads to decrease in revenue and increase in costs. For example, if a nonprofit gets involved in a major data breach, prospective donors may refuse to push through with their donations, while expenses related to recovering lost data may continue to pile up. When there's a lot to lose like nonprofits do, prevention is much worth than the cure.

Thus, there's no denying that cybersecurity is essential for nonprofits. So if your background is in technology and you're interested in joining nonprofits, having a specialization in cybersecurity can open many doors for you and also help the nonprofits you want to work for.

The career of a cybersecurity expert

Cybersecurity professionals bring a lot of value to nonprofits because of what they do. As the experts in their field, they can steer nonprofits in the right direction, starting with identifying risks. Knowing where threats are coming from is already almost half the battle.

Cybersecurity professionals can also assess if a third-party vendor is a good fit with the nonprofit organization they're working for. A good place to begin is by comparing vendors' certifications and accreditations. With so many vendors competing for a space in the market today, it's critical for nonprofits to learn to select the cream of the crop.

Lastly, cybersecurity professionals can improve current best practices. Cybersecurity isn't just about running the right software; it's also about training employees to mitigate risks. For example, a seemingly small habit of writing down system passwords on a sticky note may result in unforeseeable circumstances. But employees who are well-trained in cybersecurity by experts know much better than to jot down their passwords and place them where anyone can see.

These are just a few of the tasks cybersecurity professionals can perform for nonprofits. There are many more, which should make this career exciting as well.

Are you interested in working with non-profits? You could do so with the right education and skills. If you want to earn a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science with a Major in Cyber and Network Security - Cybersecurity Track, ECPI University offers this degree at an accelerated pace. For more information, connect with a helpful admissions counselor today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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Gainful Employment Information – Cybersecurity Track - Bachelor’s

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