Cybersecurity can feel like a foreign language.
Zero-day vulnerabilities. Man-in-the-middle attacks. Penetration testing. OWASP Top 10.
For non-technical founders, these terms might as well be hieroglyphics. And that language barrier creates a dangerous situation: you know security is important, but you can’t effectively prioritize what you don’t understand.
In my previous article about non-technical founders' security advantage, I explained why non-technical founders actually have a unique advantage when it comes to security. In the security checklist article, I provided a practical checklist to address the most common security mistakes startups make.
Today, I’m tackling something more fundamental: translating cybersecurity concepts into plain business language so you can make informed decisions without needing to become a security expert.
The Only 7 Security Concepts Non-Technical Founders Really Need to Understand
There are thousands of security terms and technologies. But most are variations on a few core concepts. Master these seven ideas, and you’ll understand 90% of what matters for your startup’s security.
1. Authentication: “Proving You Are Who You Say You Are”
In plain English: Authentication is how your systems verify someone’s identity.
What it means for your business: Weak authentication is like having a building where anyone can claim to be an employee and walk right in. Strong authentication is like requiring both an ID card and a fingerprint scan.
Key business questions to ask:
- Do all our critical systems require at least two factors for authentication? (Something you know, like a password, plus something you have, like your phone)
- How easy is it for someone in our company to use weak passwords?
- If someone’s credentials are stolen, what additional barriers exist to prevent account takeover?
Red flags to watch for:
- Single-factor authentication (just a password) for sensitive systems
- No alerts for unusual login activity (like logins from new countries)
- Shared accounts where multiple people use the same login
2. Authorization: “What You’re Allowed to Do Once You’re In”
In plain English: Authorization controls what resources someone can access and what actions they can perform after they’ve authenticated.
What it means for your business: Good authorization means employees can only access the specific data and systems they need for their job—nothing more. Poor authorization is like giving every employee a master key to every room in your building, including the executive suite and the vault.
Key business questions to ask:
- Do we follow the “principle of least privilege”? (People only get access to what they absolutely need)
- How often do we review who has access to what?
- How quickly can we revoke access when someone leaves the company?
Red flags to watch for:
- Everyone has admin access “to make things easier”
- Permissions are rarely or never reviewed
- No process exists for quickly removing access
3. Encryption: “Making Data Unreadable to Unauthorized People”
In plain English: Encryption scrambles your data so it can only be read with the right digital key.
What it means for your business: Encryption is like putting your sensitive documents in an unbreakable safe. Even if someone steals the safe, they can’t read what’s inside without the combination.
Key business questions to ask:
- Is our sensitive data encrypted both when stored (at rest) and when being transmitted (in transit)?
- Who controls the encryption keys?
- If our systems were breached today, what data would attackers be able to read in plain text?
Red flags to watch for:
- Customer data stored without encryption
- Communication channels that don’t use HTTPS
- Encryption keys stored in the same place as the encrypted data
4. Vulnerability Management: “Finding and Fixing the Holes Before Attackers Do”
In plain English: Vulnerability management is the process of identifying, evaluating, and addressing security weaknesses in your systems.
What it means for your business: Think of vulnerability management as regularly inspecting your building for broken windows, weak locks, or structural issues—then prioritizing and fixing those issues before someone exploits them.
Key business questions to ask:
- How do we discover vulnerabilities in our systems?
- How do we prioritize which vulnerabilities to fix first?
- What’s our timeline for addressing critical vulnerabilities?
Red flags to watch for:
- No regular security testing or scanning
- Vulnerabilities that remain unfixed for months
- No clear process for prioritizing security fixes
5. Security Monitoring: “Knowing When Something Suspicious Is Happening”
In plain English: Security monitoring is keeping watch over your systems to detect unusual or malicious activity.
What it means for your business: Good monitoring is like having security cameras and motion detectors throughout your building, with alerts when something unusual happens. Poor monitoring is like having no idea someone broke in until they’ve already stolen everything.
Key business questions to ask:
- What security events are we monitoring for?
- Who reviews security alerts, and how quickly?
- How would we know if we were breached right now?
Red flags to watch for:
- No monitoring for unusual access patterns
- Alerts that go unreviewed for days
- No after-hours coverage for critical alerts
6. Incident Response: “Having a Plan for When Things Go Wrong”
In plain English: Incident response is your plan for handling security breaches when they occur.
What it means for your business: Good incident response is like having a well-practiced fire drill—everyone knows their role, where to go, and what to do. Poor incident response is like having no evacuation plan and figuring it out while the building burns.
Key business questions to ask:
- Do we have a documented incident response plan?
- Have we practiced our response to different types of incidents?
- Who makes decisions during a security incident?
Red flags to watch for:
- No written incident response plan
- No designated incident response team
- No practice drills or tabletop exercises
7. Security Awareness: “Creating a Human Firewall”
In plain English: Security awareness is educating your team to recognize and avoid security threats.
What it means for your business: Good security awareness turns your employees from your biggest vulnerability into your strongest defense. Poor security awareness leaves your company vulnerable no matter how much you spend on technical controls.
Key business questions to ask:
- How do we train employees to recognize phishing and social engineering?
- How easy is it for employees to report suspicious activity?
- Does our culture encourage security-conscious behavior?
Red flags to watch for:
- One-and-done security training with no refreshers
- No testing of employee security awareness (like simulated phishing)
- A culture where security is seen as “IT’s problem”
How to Talk to Security Professionals: The Three Questions That Cut Through the Jargon
When you’re speaking with security professionals—whether they’re on your team, consultants, or vendors—these three questions will help you get to the heart of what matters:
1. “What specific business risk does this address?”
Good security solutions address specific, relevant risks to your business. If someone can’t clearly articulate what risk their solution mitigates and why it matters to your specific business, be skeptical.
Red flag response: “It’s best practice” or “Everyone in your industry uses this”
Good response: “This addresses the risk of customer data exposure through compromised employee accounts, which could lead to regulatory fines and customer trust issues”
2. “How would we measure the effectiveness of this solution?”
Security investments should produce measurable improvements to your security posture. If a solution can’t be measured, you can’t know if it’s working.
Red flag response: “You’ll just feel more secure” or vague promises
Good response: “You’ll see a 70% reduction in successful phishing attempts against your employees, which we’ll document in monthly reports”
3. “What are the alternatives, including doing nothing?”
Understanding alternatives helps you make informed decisions. Security professionals should be upfront about different approaches and the trade-offs involved.
Red flag response: “There are no real alternatives” or “Doing nothing will definitely lead to a breach”
Good response: “You could alternatively implement Solution B which costs less but requires more staff time, or you could accept this risk for now given your current threat profile”
The Non-Technical Founder’s Vendor Evaluation Cheat Sheet
When evaluating security vendors, use this simplified framework:
For Security Tools:
- Necessity: Does this solve a real problem we currently have?
- Usability: Will my team actually use this, or will it create friction?
- Integration: Does it work with our existing systems?
- Maintenance: How much ongoing work will this create for us?
- ROI: Is the risk reduction worth the cost and effort?
For Security Consultants and Services:
- Expertise: Can they speak clearly about security without relying on jargon?
- Relevance: Do they understand your specific industry and business model?
- Approach: Do they focus on pragmatic solutions or theoretical perfection?
- Deliverables: What tangible outputs will you receive for your investment?
- Knowledge Transfer: Will they teach your team or create dependency?
The Bottom Line: Security as a Business Function
The most important shift for non-technical founders is to stop thinking about security as a technical function and start treating it as a business function.
Just as you don’t need to understand the technical details of financial instruments to make good financial decisions for your company, you don’t need to understand the technical details of cybersecurity to make good security decisions.
What you need is:
- A basic understanding of the core concepts (which you now have)
- The right questions to ask (which I’ve provided)
- Metrics that matter to your business (which we’ve covered)
- A framework for evaluating advice and vendors (which you now possess)
Armed with these tools, you can effectively lead your company’s security efforts without becoming a technical security expert.
Next Steps: From Understanding to Action
Understanding these concepts is important, but action is what creates security. In my next article, “The Counterintuitive Truth About Security Budgets: How Spending Less in the Right Places Protects You More,” I’ll show you how to build a strategic security budget that maximizes protection while minimizing costs.
For now, I recommend revisiting the security checklist from my previous article with your new understanding of these core concepts. You’ll likely find that you can now have more meaningful conversations with your technical team about implementing those security controls.