Not-for-profit organisations have security needs too

Not-for-profit organisations have something other than profit as their primary objective. Typically, they are funded through private and public donations, although they may generate income through some level of commercial activities. The types of organisations that are defined as not-for-profit include some medical organisations, charities, philanthropic organisations and non-governmental bodies.

Such laudable ambitions do not make not-for-profit organisations immune to security threats. Rather, they face the same level of threat from viruses, hackers, and inappropriate or offensive content as commercial companies. And some are even subject to the same level of regulatory compliance as commercial organisations. But not-for-profit organisations are generally characterised by limited staffing levels and restricted budgets, which places an extra burden on those trying to keep a handle on security. This means that not-for-profit organisations tend to look especially for cost-effective security solutions, often looking not only for protection technology and services from just one vendor, but for an integrated hardware appliance that can be plugged in with little requirement for IT staff to be involved, and that provides protection from a range of security threats.