Balancing client requests with cybersecurity standards requires a mix of education, collaboration, and unwavering commitment to best practices. I prioritize explaining the real-world risks of weak security, often citing examples to highlight the potential impact on their business. Offering secure yet tailored alternatives helps address their needs while maintaining integrity. When necessary, I firmly stand by non-negotiable standards, emphasizing their role in regulatory compliance and reputation protection. Building trust through transparency ensures clients see security as an enabler, not a barrier, to their goals.

You can manage it like any other risk. Start by clearly identifying and quantifying the risk(s) and making sure that all parties understand the implications. Then you can consider a number of different (or a mix of) strategies: Avoidance: Turn the business away Transfer: Offer to help them transfer the risk to a third party or take it back upon themselves. This might be through cloud hosting, sandboxing or other isolation strategies. Accept: Allow the compromise but charge enough to make it worth the risk to you and/or unattractive to them Reduce: Figure out alternatives that can mitigate the risk and give them choices. This can be combined with the prohibitive pricing strategy from above.