Cyber Resilience for Kiwi Businesses: Why Prevention Pays Off
Cyber Resilience for Kiwi Businesses. Why Prevention Pays Off
We know that running a business means there’s always a lot to juggle — staff, customers, compliance, cashflow, and the list goes on!
But one area that often gets overlooked until it’s too late? Cybersecurity.
Without wanting to sound too scary, the risks are real. But with the right planning, a cyber safety framework can be put in place — to limit the kind of damage that causes serious financial loss and reputational fallout.
THE BOOM FRAMEWORK
Think of cyber threats like a bomb going off – there's before, during, and after.
At Technotic we use this “Left of Boom / Boom / Right of Boom” analogy to explain the stages of cyber resilience.
Left of Boom – Prevention is Everything
This is what you do before anything goes wrong. It includes:
Strong backups
Clear IT strategy
Multi-factor authentication
Staff training to spot scams
Keeping systems up to date
Managing passwords and user access properly
These steps are affordable, and every dollar spent here offers the best return. As a rule of thumb, it’s like buying a $1,000 insurance policy for just $1.
Boom – When the Attack Hits
This is where you’re in the middle of a cyber event. Maybe someone’s clicked a phishing link. Maybe ransomware’s encrypted your files. At this point, your systems need to detect the threat and shut it down fast. That includes:
Antivirus
Spam filters
Behaviour monitoring
Dark web monitoring (for leaked passwords)
Having senior IT support on call
A dollar spent here is like $10 if you’ve already done the prep. If not, you're now firefighting with whatever tools you've got.
Right of Boom – Picking Up the Pieces
This is after the damage is done. You’re restoring data from backups (if you have them), informing affected clients, maybe even reporting to the Privacy Commissioner. You might be rebuilding entire systems or trying to salvage your reputation.
This is the most expensive phase, and often the most stressful — especially for small businesses.
The Bottom Line
Spending $200 a month per person on a solid IT and cybersecurity plan isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s a smart investment.
That small monthly cost helps prevent the big stuff:
Downtime that STOPS operations
Data loss that puts sensitive info at risk
Reputational fallout that’s hard to recover from
Think of it like this:
$1 spent before an incident can save $10 during,
And $1,000 after.
That’s a return on investment no Kiwi business can afford to overlook.