Although bigger names are obviously more likely to make the headlines, small and medium-sized businesses are at more risk of a damaging security breach than any larger corporations. Unfortunately, due to a lack of disposable capital, a lot of small businesses can find it hard to assure an airtight IT network in-house. Like many small entrepreneurs, you might be considering outsourcing your cybersecurity. Here are some of the pros and cons of doing this…

The Pros

– It’s cheaper: by relying on third-party services to protect your business, you can reduce various additional costs, such as in-house salaries and bonuses, rented office space, and other things.

– Reduced need for management: If you decide to create an in-house cybersecurity team, you’ll have to put a fair amount of time and money towards managing it. You’ll need to set targets and working hours, give out specific assignments, track the effectiveness of the team’s work, and deal with any bad apples. On the other hand, if you pass the work on to an outside company, you’ll also pass on all the managerial responsibility, and the many headaches that come with it!

– You’ll be at the forefront of professional standards: Like outsourcing anything, if you hire a third party to deal with your business’s cybersecurity, you’ll be able to rest assured that they’re keeping up to the standards of their industry. You may also gain access to more sophisticated, cutting-edge technologies, like  in the case of an identification scanning service. Perhaps the biggest advantage in this is not having to conduct a lot of painful interviews to screen candidates’ credentials.

The Cons

– A lack of control: Whenever you outsource anything, you’ll have to sacrifice at least some control over how the task is actually conducted. In this case, you’ll have a lesser degree of control over the kind of security hardware and software the third party uses. However, this information will be readily available to you, and you’ll be able to do your own research into how effective the resources you’re paying for are.

– It presents a new threat: Yes, outsourcing your cybersecurity is meant to make your sensitive data safer, but doing it can in fact increase your risk of a breach. The more devices and individuals who have access to your data, the greater your risk of a leak or breach will be. You may be adding more layers to your cybersecurity, but there’s no way of stopping someone at the other company developing a grudge against their boss!

– Issues with contract termination: Once you put your signature on a contract, you have to obey all of its terms and conditions. If you want to get out of it before the term of the contract is up (unless it’s due to a massive error on the part of the third party) you’ll have to deal with a lot of unnecessary spending and stress. Before you tie your business into anything, make sure you understand the terms and research the company thoroughly.