Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

Assuaging Fears, Taking Action on Nonprofit Cybersecurity with Jennifer Huftalen

• Community IT Innovators • Season 6 • Episode 28

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Many nonprofit staff are facing increased stress and multiplying concerns about privacy, security, and vulnerabilities. What should you be tackling first in this new political environment? 

The takeaways: 

  • Most attacks are still financially based: criminals want you to wire money to the wrong account. The good news is that cybersecurity basics that protect you from fraud also protect your organization from politically motivated attacks.
  • Taking action – even modest first steps or reading up on the issues – goes a long way to assuage fears and stress. But when the stress is all around us, it is hard to prioritize the boring, back-office tasks like reviewing your incident response plan or acceptable use policies, or updating your cybersecurity awareness training. Working with an accountability partner can help! 
  • To find motivation to carve out the time to gather stakeholders together, remind them that as Jenny says, a trip in an ambulance to the emergency room costs way more than an annual check up. The cost of a breach will likely be a lot more than the time it would take your team to strengthen your security. 

There are lots of resources available – here on our site we have free resources on basic cybersecurity, anti-doxxing resources, staff training, and governance policies. If you need motivation to start, listen to this podcast and take those first steps.

Presenter:

Jennifer Huftalen is a 17-year veteran at Community IT and is our Director of Client Services. She speaks daily with clients about their needs and fears and shares her insights in this podcast interview with Carolyn. 

The good? news is that our fundamental recommendations on foundational cybersecurity still stand, and will protect most nonprofits from most threats, financial or political. More good news? Basic solutions do not have to be expensive, in fact in our experience, most nonprofits worried about cybersecurity need to walk – put fundamentals in place – before they can run – engage vendors in expensive comprehensive testing when an assessment could have already revealed those weaknesses, for less.

Bottom line, it feels good to take action, and Community IT has lots of resources on taking your first steps. 

If you have questions that aren’t answered by our downloadable Cybersecurity Playbook or other online resources, schedule time with our Cybersecurity Expert Matthew Eshleman, no strings attached.

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