Digital security can be a hefty investment. Not only are the tools themselves on the costlier side of software, but constant investment, reinventing, and strategizing are essential. You can’t one-and-done your digital security, which is why the costs associated with digital security and, yes, cybercrime, are so high.
How high, exactly?
This blog post goes into the details.
The Cost of Cybercrime
Cybercrime is a huge industry, and no, it’s not going anywhere. For every advancement in digital security we make, criminals are right there behind us. That’s why cybercrime costs businesses and even individuals around $1.2 trillion in 2025, with some reports estimating the cost (which includes both direct losses and knock-on losses like lost productivity or brand trust) reaches upwards of $10 trillion.
The Cost of Cyber Security
It’s estimated that global spending on cybercrime will reach $1 trillion annually by 2031. While this cost is extremely high (especially considering it was just $3.5 billion in 2004), it’s one of the most sound investments businesses can make for themselves.
The money doesn’t entirely go towards reactive measures, either. Increasingly, businesses are investing in what’s known as threat hunting. Threat hunting can be done on an exploratory basis (finding weak points in your system), proactively (to hunt down active threats you think might be there), or reactively (to understand known threats better).
Reducing the Cost of Cyber Security
The easiest way to reduce the costs associated with your cybersecurity is, ironically, to invest further into it. That’s because the biggest threat, cost-wise, to your business is a hacking attempt. Whether you lose money directly from lost revenue (due to supply chain issues, transfer fraud, or even because of ransom) or indirectly, the costs of a cyber attack are innumerable. You could outright lose your entire business if you say no to a ransom and see your whole business deleted.
That being said, even cybersecurity can be streamlined with these top tips:
1. Unify your data
The easiest way to secure your business for less is to ensure it’s all ingested into a single data warehouse, where you can easily track the data, remove duplicates, and add appropriate metadata. If automated and AI systems can better understand and find your data faster and easier, it will be faster, easier, and cheaper to secure. While you’re at it, remove all outdated and unneeded data, software, and tools.
2. Stay informed on the latest threats
Regardless of which security system you use or the approach, you and everyone on your payroll need to stay on top of the latest cybercrime trends and threats. This is the easiest way to reduce risk from the outset, and is also one of the most cost-effective approaches you can take.
3. Employ Simple Workflow Updates
One final way you can reduce the strain on your security systems and, therefore, make it faster and easier to keep your business protected is to ensure that regular system updates and other security optimization steps are taken on a regular basis.
