27 Apr The Cost of a Cyber Attack: Why Prevention Matters for Nonprofits

Nonprofits are charged with balancing capital and budget via third-party support from donors. Whether for charity or how the nonprofit’s model operates, the end goal is not about strengthening the bottom line. Since nonprofits are instrumental in humanitarian, aid, and charity work, every donation makes a difference.

Unfortunately, the type of work and its empathetic connotation do not matter to threat actors. In today’s tech-driven environment, where online donations are uniquely crucial for a nonprofit organization, malicious parties only see opportunity and short-term gains. Nonprofits aggregate troves of data, collected from generous third-party support. Therefore, they become a treasure trove of invaluable intel. Therefore, it is imperative nonprofits have comprehensive cybersecurity because the consequences are costly.

The Real Cost of a Cyber Breach

There are several layers to the damaging aftermath post-cyberattack. First is the outstanding financial burden placed on the selected target(s).

In standard business models, cyberattacks lead to extended periods of downtime. This can range from several hours to a few days, and in dire circumstances, weeks. Downtime translates to operation costs. A business that cannot operate cannot generate profit and instead must use its capital to restore normal services.

For a nonprofit organization, these problems are greatly exacerbated. Nonprofits do not have the same resources – primarily cybersecurity infrastructure – as leading tech enterprises. Depending on the size and scope of a nonprofit organization, there may be no cybersecurity resources at all. Therefore, a successful cyber breach can lead to the consequential end of a nonprofit enterprise.

The hard numbers paint an equally dismal picture. In 2024 alone, IBM reports that the average cost of a cyber breach event increased by ten percent, equating to $4.88 million in damages. For a nonprofit organization with constrained budgets, any breach leading to millions in cost can completely shutter operations.

Nonprofits as an ideal target

Nonprofits are not just a sought-after target for the valuable data they manage. During COVID-19, numerous organizations and businesses, including nonprofit enterprises, were pushed into the digital world to maintain operations. Like many, nonprofits forced into said position lacked the critical IT resources and cybersecurity infrastructure to survive in a dangerous threat space.

In some cases, nonprofit operations relied on (and still do) voluntary assistance from IT experts, but the extent of this voluntary aid is not enough to proactively defend against deadly cyber threats. Therefore, a newly exposed environment of simple or nonexistent network defenses created a perfect field of unprepared, attractive targets.

Since nonprofits prioritize humanitarian, aid, or volunteer work, they lack the financial capital to invest in long-term, concrete solutions. Thus, forced to operate in an online-dominant space without the infrastructure to protect themselves, nonprofits are at high risk for attack.

Pain points beyond money

A successful breach event goes well beyond hurting a nonprofit’s limited budget, unfortunately. There are several long-term consequences following the impact of a cyberattack.

First is loss of data, identity theft, and allocation of donor information. That can range from names, emails, and in rare cases the home addresses of affected targets. In the event of a breach, nonprofits must also contend with brand damage and donor trust. Donors are less likely to lend aid to a nonprofit that cannot protect their data and lacks the methods to properly safeguard information.

In other cases, hackers can utilize a compromised nonprofit network to spread misinformation. Nonprofits are routinely tied with events adjacent to politics, especially if are humanitarian work. Therefore, malicious third parties can use their success to cause damage beyond capital.

Importance of prevention

In summation, nonprofits pushed into the digital sector in a post-COVID landscape contend with several challenges: malware, ransomware, downtime, phishing, brand damage, and the potential spread of damaging misinformation. Thus, it is critical nonprofits use proactive methods to prevent cybersecurity disasters given their limited resources and reliance on third-party assistance.

But how can a nonprofit manage these cybersecurity challenges with limited budget and staff? There are a few simple fixes to basic cybersecurity functions, such as establishing MFA for devices, limiting permissions on a network, and ensuring all anti-malware software is up to date. But even then, it may not be enough.

Fortunately, there are solutions. A nonprofit organization can make use of third-party assistance, namely a managed service provider. MSPs operate as a secondary team of experts, drawing from their own arsenal of IT and cybersecurity resources. They possess the tools, knowledge, and remote flexibility to provide immediate assistance to struggling organizations. That includes a nonprofit. MSPs also work closely with budgets, minding the limited capital of nonprofits to ensure they can function without financial burdens.

In essence, if your nonprofit organization lacks comprehensive IT and cybersecurity, it’s time to get help. For more information, you can reach out to Bytagig today.