What does the Pentagon spend on cyber security?
The Pentagon is one of the largest office buildings in the world and houses some of the world's most classified data used in the defense departments of the United States of America. One of the organizations located inside the building is the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command, who maintains cyber security for much of the building.
The NCDOC along with the Department of Defense stop 36 million emails filled with spam, viruses and phishing schemes targeted at those military contacts within the Pentagon. If you think that's a lot, note that the 36 million is not annually - it's daily.
How much does this cost?
The Navy estimates it spends $160 million a year to combat these threats as well as other cyber security issues. That includes things like downtime in production caused by the issues, but does not include the time it takes to investigate the issue to try and prevent it from happening again. Not only that, but they spend an additional $70 million each year because of negligent IT practices like untrained users and out of date equipment.
The DOD has decided to try and combat this massive expenditure each year by following a plan that essentially boils down to being better prepared and having systems in place beforehand. They have learned first-hand that paying for and having protection and plans in place will actually allow them to save both time and money in the long-term.
How does this relate to my organization?
While there are few organizations as large as the DoD complex in the Pentagon, their story is no less relatable to any organization. All organizations harbor some sort of data and influence, whether it be a service provided to customers or information on employees' pay or a customers' payment information. This is all valuable to someone somewhere and eventually someone will try to get at it.
Your organization may only be 1/100,000 the size of the DoD in the Pentagon, but that still means you could be receiving hundreds of spam emails, phishing threats and other forms of attacks meant to gain access to this data. Just one successful attempt could set you back months as well as damage your reputation or force you to cease operations.
Like the Navy and DoD, we should all consider fronting some of that cost to help prevent an issue from ever happening. In the long-term, it may be the most beneficial option. Sure you could skate by without up to date practices, equipment and security, but as Gary Sinise tells us in the Green Mile, "You might get away with it once or even a hundred times. But in the end, you'll get bit."
