What do you think is the weakest link when it comes to the company’s cybersecurity?
You might think it’s the lack of antivirus software, and you’ll be partially right. If you’re aware of cybersecurity threats awaiting your business, that’s also great. If your company has the required software, multi-factor authentication, and works with a professional penetration testing company for regular checkups, even better. But, in all these cybersecurity measures, don’t forget about the most vital part: training your employees.
According to Kaspersky’s survey, 52% of businesses admit their biggest security weakness is… their staff. In other words, most of the time, it’s not a system that puts companies’ at risk, but a human error. There are numerous dangers awaiting the unqualified employees. You have probably heard about the data breach, but do you know spam, hacking, phishing, ransomware attacks and other cyberattacks that might target your company?
If you still aren’t convinced, let us explain it more thoroughly. When it comes to cyberattacks, your employees need to have a basic understanding of what, how, and why.
What Are Cyberattacks?
If you want your employees to implement best practices to ensure your data safety, you have to make sure they even know about the cyber dangers awaiting them. You should also invest in appropriate matter management software and educate your employees on this to ensure they understand it is important to secure your document. It’s easy to warn them to be careful while browsing the Internet – but are you even aware of what it means?
In raising cybersecurity awareness, it’s crucial to train your employees on different types of cyberattacks – social engineering attacks, phishing scams or malware attacks, to name just a few. These days, hackers are using more and more advanced methods of obtaining sensitive data; for instance, they use artificial intelligence (AI) that exposes the gaps in cybersecurity of a company operating in the cloud. Without the right software and practices in place, it is easy for hackers to get into your systems and intrude on your private data and documents.
First, your employees need to know and understand the possible attacks and how they are performed, as well as the basic IT security concepts. It doesn’t have to be advanced knowledge; implement the basics, and you’ll see that an aware team is a better team.
How to Respond to Cyberattacks?
Your employees need to be aware of the dangers, but also how to respond to them. Don’t worry; we do not require them to achieve the level of IT masters. Instead, it’s all about the simple actions they can take to improve the security of your company.
Password Security
Employees should know how to set a strong password and why the passwords are typically the first line of protection to secure sensitive data. A strong password should contain letters, numbers and symbols, and ideally should be regularly changed. Your employees should also be trained not to share their passwords with anyone and not write it down anywhere, whether it’s on their drives or desks.
Virus Detection
Yes, your company does have antivirus software. No, we’re not talking about that. A virus will frequently be included in a suspicious email, a social media post, or a LinkedIn invitation. It will be implemented so that an inexperienced user is bound to click it and download malicious software.
Thus, it’s vital to educate employees on how to detect possible dangers; what a falsified email looks like, what kind of information it requires, and how to report them to the cybersecurity team.
Plus, at times, the antivirus itself might not work ideally. Thus, it’s crucial to educate a team on how to use it smartly; for instance, which warnings they should consider and which ones they should ignore.
Email, Internet and Social Media Policies
Employees should be aware of Internet policies and guidelines as well as all the updates. The general rules for best practices should be implemented in training, as well as in the routine meetings so that the employees stay informed about the regulations.
Why Is Cybersecurity So Important?
Lastly, it’s vital to teach your employees about the consequences of not taking cybersecurity matters seriously. They have to realize that the future of the company depends on their own cybersecurity awareness.
Ransomware attacks are not just a theoretical threat, but a sad reality, as they destroy the systems and create huge financial losses. They’re also very frequent; according to experts, they attack businesses approximately every 14 seconds!
Data breaches, on the other hand, might lead a business to serious legal problems. If sensitive client information is leaked, the company might experience fines and legal interventions. We don’t have to mention it may result in deteriorating the brand image and decreasing customer trust, right?
Adequate cybersecurity training will ensure the knowledge of every action’s consequences. As each individual will know how much is up to them, they will be more likely to think twice about how to ensure cybersecurity in the workplace and how to respond to any security threat they encounter.
Conclusion
Living in a technology-driven era is both a blessing and a curse. Due to the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the companies are operating mostly on the web and can incorporate intelligent wireless technologies into the workplace quickly and efficiently.
This cyber advancement made many things easier: easy data storage, quick modification of the files or operations across the globe. However, with the same technology, there occurred multiple cybersecurity threats, putting the companies’ sensitive data in danger. Luckily, more and more organizations gain awareness of the problem.
Although it’s crucial to implement the necessary system security measures, it’s also vital to remember that most responsibility depends on the company’s employees. Thus, if you want to provide information security in your organization, first of all, make sure your team undergoes adequate training. Good luck!