Cybersecurity and Productivity: Striking the Perfect Balance for Business Success

Imagine this scenario: An employee in your company receives an email with a PDF attachment they need to open for work purposes. Upon double-clicking the attachment, they are prompted with a message asking if they'd like the program to make changes to their computer. Although it seems unusual, the employee decides to proceed and clicks "Yes." Did malware just get installed? Will the entire network be compromised come Monday?

Here's another situation: Your IT department has implemented a system that restricts software installations. While working on a time-consuming project, you need to edit a PDF and try to install a helpful application from a trusted source. However, you encounter a message asking you to contact your administrator for installation. What's your next move? Wait for IT to respond or simply leave that part of the project unfinished?

In all likelihood, the second scenario is better since it doesn't compromise the entire organization. However, both situations result in lost time and resources.

Business is all about balance: work-life and personal-life, reinvestment and profit-taking, maintaining high profits while minimizing client turnover, and (as highlighted in this article), achieving robust cybersecurity without sacrificing efficiency. Is this a matter of simply striking a balance between risks, similar to investing in stocks or startups? The answer is no.

In the past, organizations were willing to take risks like using simple passwords, not enabling multi-factor authentication, or allowing users to install whatever they wanted, all in the name of productivity. Today, that's no longer acceptable. Cyber threats are increasingly common and can have severe consequences.

Thankfully, solutions are available to maintain productivity while prioritizing cybersecurity. Implementing these solutions may not be easy, but once set up correctly, they are well worth the effort. One such solution is a software that enables your IT provider to create an "Allow List" of approved applications. Anything outside of that list requires IT approval, which can be granted within seconds. This is just one example of an effective solution provided by excellent IT providers.

If your IT provider isn't consistently enhancing your organization's security measures, it might be time to explore other options. Poor IT providers remain stagnant, good ones introduce new security measures, but the best providers ensure that security improvements don't impact productivity.