Optimizing Cybersecurity Decision Making: A Framework for Balancing Short-Term Costs and Long-Term Benefits*

Abstract

Traditional cybersecurity techniques frequently fail to address the dynamic nature of digital vulnerabilities in the face of quickly changing cyberthreats. The demand for sophisticated security systems that can anticipate and successfully reduce threats over time is growing as cyberattacks become more complex and frequent. Using time-discounted profits and losses—a notion taken from behavioural economics and decision theory—this essay investigates the application of cybersecurity controls for the future.  Organisations can assess the long-term effects of cybersecurity investments while taking recent expenses into account by using time-discounting, which entails assigning present prices to future gains and losses.  Organisations can balance immediate costs and long-term gains by incorporating time-discounted models into cybersecurity decision-making, guaranteeing long-term security in a threat landscape that is continuously changing. In order to mitigate future cyberattacks, Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) is crucial information about both physical and cyberthreats. Numerous sources on present or possible cyberthreats to organisations have emerged as a result of the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 5.0, and the quick development of information and communications technology (ICT). As a result, CTI sharing between organisations has a lot of potential to enable quick reactions to attacks and promote reciprocal advantages through active engagement. Interoperability standards, data dependability, and legal and regulatory requirements are some of the major obstacles to CTI exchange across organisations. The paper explores time-discounted models' theoretical underpinnings and how they apply to cybersecurity.  It demonstrates how these models assist organisations in setting security expenditure priorities by evaluating the long-term effects of current choices.  The essay uses quantitative analysis to show how time-discounted techniques can help decision-makers reduce vulnerabilities, maximise long-term security returns, and choose the best security strategies.  Assessing risk tolerance, projecting possible losses, and estimating future danger landscapes are important factors.  The difficulties in putting time-discounted cybersecurity models into practice are also covered in the paper.  These difficulties include forecasting future threats with accuracy, evaluating the long-term efficacy of security measures, and taking technology advancement concerns into account. Using time-discounted gains and losses to establish cybersecurity policies for the future provides a proactive and economical way to manage cyber risks.  Organisations can use this framework to make well-informed, urgent decisions that strike a balance between short-term expenses and long-term security advantages.  In order to create a more secure and resilient digital environment, the paper offers a thorough road map for incorporating time-discounted models into cybersecurity tactics.