The Perceived Value of Cybersecurity Analyses and Frameworks for an IT Company

Abstract

Recent trends show an increasing rate of cyberattacks against private companies and public organizations. Existing cybersecurity analyses and frameworks offer a set of guidelines for preparedness and security countermeasures against cyberthreats. However, there is little knowledge on the perceived value of these. This thesis explores the value of common cybersecurity analyses and frameworks, to understand their values for the organizations looking for a holistic overview of the possible countermeasures against cyberattacks. A choice made for the study was to mainly focus on IT companies as cases. To address the challenging nature of the thesis topic, three research questions were created. “How does an IT company perceive the value of cybersecurity frameworks?”, “What are the challenges of conducting a cybersecurity analysis?” and “How can performing a cybersecurity analysis benefit an IT company?”.