Non-profit organizations are not immune to such threats, in fact, their distinct nature makes them more susceptible to such breaches.
Let’s take a closer look into the unique position of non-profits and why they’re more prone to cyber-attacks.
Inadequate Preparation
Most non-profits are reluctant to include security spending in their budget, and many are ignorant of the risk factors they face constantly.
Another reason is that nonprofits don’t correctly estimate the cost of a temporary shutdown induced by a cyber-attack – their website will get taken down from Google searches and donors will shy away after coming to know about the security lapses.
Reluctance For Cyber Security Spending
A 2016 study by NetDiligence shows that on average around 12,000 records were hacked from non-profits by cyber attackers.
Non-profits better brace themselves for a surprise, if they believe cyber-attackers won’t target them.
To be fair, most non-profits have a tight budget to fulfill their missions and responsibilities, which is why cyber-spending never makes it to their budget list.
Scarce Human Resources
Nonprofits are not known for their complex Human Resources, they usually function with bare-bones teams, let alone have an in-house IT team.
On the bright side, some organizations offer specialized services for nonprofits at a discounted rate. If a full-time IT team is outside a nonprofit’s budget, they should at least focus on regularly updating software and choosing secure vendors.
Another smart solution is outsourcing, which can serve as a substitute for IT experts. A lack of experts usually means one person donning many hats. And, in the event of a cyber-breach, an already overwhelmed team would burn out, if not collapse under the magnitude of tasks during assessing, reporting and recovery.
Lack Of Awareness
Non-profits always give into the myth that they have no valuable data for hackers. However, they couldn’t be more wrong. Since donations are the lifelines of nonprofits, they usually have the credit card information of donors in a file. Hackers could easily sell the credit card info for a handsome rate on the Dark web.
Other data such as emails, which might be as important, could still be used by hackers to spam the victims with phishing attempts, advertising, and sending unnecessary emails. This lack of awareness among nonprofits makes them more prone to cyber attacks, especially if they are unaware of the best security practices for protecting data.
Need For A Change In Mindset
The aforementioned points are not only the major reasons why nonprofits have a higher susceptibility to cyber-attacks. However, they underscore the faulty assumption non-profits hold, which could render them defenseless in the event of a cyber-attack.
It’s high time non-profits change their attitude and understand that no organization is immune to cyber-attacks and that a proper cybersecurity infrastructure is not an optional expenditure but a necessary tool to protect themselves from the malicious attacks of hackers.
Join Hands With Teckpath
At TeckPath, we’ve listened to the woes of non-profits and our Cybersecurity Solutions will ensure that your non-profit organization can carry out its mission and objective without the worry of a cyber-breach.
Let TeckPath bear the burden so that you can continue serving the people
We Provide:
- Risk assessment and optimizing the visibility of your non-profit organization
- Staying ahead of upcoming threats
- Absolute control over security operations
- Continuously adapt security programming
- Enhance cybersecurity ROI
- Facilitating a hybrid workforce by coordinating with the in-house team with professional cybersecurity support services
That’s Not All!
We know that cost is a very important consideration for all businesses, and that’s why we offer services at the most competitive prices.
Stop Waiting!
The longer you wait, the more your non-profit will be a target for hackers.
Connect with us and keep hackers at bay.
