Every company knows what needs to be done. Update passwords, turn on two-factor authentication, and install security patches. But there’s always something more urgent a product launch, a client deadline, or a feature that can’t wait. So security gets pushed to next month, then next quarter, then next year.
That’s security debt. And it always gets paid usually by hackers who collect it all at once.
How the Debt Piles Up
Think of it like maintaining client relationships. If you delay following up on a few customer concerns because you’re busy, it doesn’t seem serious at first. But over time, those ignored issues turn into bad reviews, lost clients, and damage to your reputation. Fixing the problem later costs far more than responding on time. Security works the same way.
Companies first delay software updates. When the IT team receives a security patch notification, the system appears to be working fine, so the patch is postponed. Months go by, workloads remain high, and nothing changes. The patch stays uninstalled, and the weakness it was meant to fix remains open.
Next, security policies get delayed. Everyone agrees two-factor authentication is important, but rolling it out means training users, answering complaints, and using IT time on something that doesn’t directly bring in revenue. So it gets planned for later and later never happens.
Over time, these delays stack up. An unpatched system becomes an open door. Old passwords are the keys left in that door. Without two-factor authentication, no one is checking who is coming in. Together, these gaps make it easy for attackers to break in.
What Happened in 2024
This is what security debt looks like when it finally catches up.
In February 2024, attackers broke into Change Healthcare, a company that handles about half of all insurance claims in the United States. They entered through a single remote access portal that did not have two-factor authentication enabled. That one missing control was enough. The breach exposed medical data of 193 million Americans. The CEO later admitted the server was planned for a security upgrade it just hadn’t been done yet. The company spent around $2.4 billion on system recovery, business disruption, legal issues, and other related costs. They also paid a $22 million ransom, which did not help recover the data. (Source: United Health Group (UHG) earnings and fillings)
The same year, more than 160 organizations were compromised through Snowflake cloud systems, including AT&T, Ticketmaster, and Santander Bank. Attackers used passwords stolen as far back as 2020 – credentials that had been available on dark web forums for years. These companies could have changed those passwords at any time. They knew it was needed, but it never happened. Ticketmaster lost data linked to about 560 million customer records. AT&T exposed call and text records of millions of users and later paid $370,000 in an attempt to remove the stolen data.
The fixes in both cases were simple. Change passwords regularly. Enable two-factor authentication. Both options were available, low-cost, and well known. Both were delayed.
Why Smart People Make Bad Security Decisions
Delaying security often feels reasonable in the moment. Teams are busy, and spending a week setting up two-factor authentication means one less week building a feature that could win a major client. The client is real. The revenue is real. Security feels distant—something that may never happen to your company.
At the same time, everything appears fine. There are no attacks, no downtime, and no warning signs. Changing systems even feels risky when nothing seems broken. This is where companies get stuck. Security debt feels small until it becomes a serious problem. Most breaches don’t happen because of advanced hacking techniques they happen because known issues were left unfixed for too long.
What You Should Do Right Now
Stop treating security as something you’ll handle later and make it visible. List systems that don’t have two-factor authentication, identify passwords that haven’t been changed in years, and track security patches waiting to be installed especially on systems connected to the internet.
Automate the basics so security doesn’t depend on memory or spare time. Set passwords to rotate automatically and schedule patching as a routine task. Let security happen by default.
Do the math. A week of IT effort to enable two-factor authentication is nothing compared to a $2.4 billion breach. It’s also nothing compared to the cost of losing customer trust and business reputation. If security must be delayed for a valid business reason, write it down, assign responsibility, and set a clear date to fix it. Don’t let it quietly sit in the backlog.
The Bottom Line
Security debt always gets paid. Your company can pay it in a planned and controlled way, or attackers will collect it through a breach that costs billions, damages trust, and forces leaders to explain why basic security steps were skipped.
Change Healthcare paid $2.4 billion.
Don’t be next.
