Nonprofits and Cybersecurity

There are approximately two million nonprofit organizations operating in the United States alone, accounting for one out of every ten private-sector workers.

It's an industry that's literally measured in the trillions of dollars.

Yet when it comes to business operations, due to shoestring budgets, many nonprofits run their entire operations using software like Google Workspace or similar low-cost (or free) tools. And they typically don't employ any IT staff. This leaves nonprofits extremely vulnerable to cyberattacks.

In fact, according to Microsoft's 2021 Digital Defense Report, nonprofit organizations have become the second most-targeted sector by cyber criminals, accounting for 31% of all notifications of nation-state attacks against organizational domains (as detected by Microsoft).

In this episode of Privacy Files, we speak to Kim Collier, Owner and Principal Consultant at COMO Solutions. Kim helps nonprofits grow funding and improve their cyber defenses.

In our conversation, we cover a few examples of cyberattacks on nonprofits, including one food bank that lost one million dollars, and a hospital that was shuttered due to multiple attacks.

We also address the top seven reasons why nonprofits must make cybersecurity a top priority.

To close out the interview, we offer some tips on what nonprofits can do to better protect themselves against threat actors.

To contact Kim at COMO Solutions:

cybersecurity@comosolutions.com

Links Referenced:

https://thenonprofittimes.com/legal/blackbaud-settles-with-sec-for-3m-on-donor-data-breach/

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2024/01/ftc-says-blackbauds-lax-security-allowed-hacker-steal-sensitive-data-thats-just-beginning-story

https://www.statista.com/topics/1390/nonprofit-organizations-in-the-us/#topicOverview

https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-nonprofits-are-there-in-the-us/

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