Startups are considered one of the main drivers of economic development around the world. Being at the forefront of progress, new companies are attracting a lot of attention. Sometimes this attention comes from cybercriminals with their destructive motives. So, how startups are supposed to recognize it’s time to respond to information security inquiries? Here’s an eight-point checklist, and if you meet even one condition, it means that you already need to think about cyber defense.

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Sign #1. Your startup is about working with personal data, money transfer or is an object of government regulations. Nowadays, being able to do business in a specific area means to comply with different standards and frameworks. PCI DSS, HIPAA, PIPEDA (GDPR), SSL – the acronyms of which are widely known not only to businesses, but also to customers who want to be sure that they are dealing with verified parties.

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Sign #2. Your startup cares about its customers. Demonstrating to potential customers that you are a reliable partner and know how to protect your relationship with them can help build rapport with customers.

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Sign #3. Your product is innovative. It’s hard to find a better idea of how to keep your business secrets safe than implementing multi-layered security.

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Sign #4. Remote work. This became a new normal to work away from offices, hubs or coworking spaces. If the way your startup operates has changed, you must be prepared for the new challenges these unprecedented times have brought. And security problems showed up instantly everywhere.

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Sign #5. Competitive advantage. Sometimes different startups are similar solutions to a known issue. If you can convince stakeholders that you can handle cyber risks better than your competitors, your business will benefit.

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Sign #6. Your startup is preparing for the next round of funding and wants to increase its value. Investors are wary of providing funds to companies that can’t protect their assets or mitigate potential risks.

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Sign #7. Your team is 5 and more people. There are many different end-point solutions on the market, but if you’d like to protect your organization as a whole, 5 computers/users are usually the lowest reasonable number by a security provider to help you with your needs. 

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Sign #8. You’ve heard another piece of news regarding cyberattack. As you can see, hackers don’t care what industry they work in: a bank, a car rental, a pipeline, or a meat processing plant. You can’t avoid becoming their target, so you have to defend your business.

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Once a newborn begins to discover the world around, it needs protection and help in order to be able to develop further. It’s the same with startups: once you start growing, you should think carefully about the measures that will assist you in maturing your business idea.