The biggest threats companies are facing these days are not physical. In fact, cyber attacks are the single biggest business risk in today’s digital world. These attacks are increasing exponentially as time progresses. And they are becoming more sophisticated in the process. Global cybercrime cost the world more than $100 billion in 2013. In 2015, the cost had increased several times to $400 billion. As of today, experts estimate that by 2019, the cost of cybercrime may be as high as $2 trillion! So just having an alphanumeric password on your Frontier FIOS Internet Is not going to be enough.
Employees and Cybercrime
Cyber attacks have reached a global epidemic stage. Businesses of all sizes are vulnerable. With the increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, there is a need for a sophisticated strategy. According to experts, employees are the biggest source of data breaches. This means there is a need for an agile cybersecurity policy. One which focuses on training employees to guard against cyber threats. This is very important because security breaches are very costly when it comes to time, resources, and even reputation. We have narrowed down this blog to 5 tips on how to train your employees against cybercrime. Here they are:
- Encourage Strong Security Practices
- Engage Employees in Security Practices
- Establish a Comprehensive Security Database
- Improve Communication with Employees
- Include Non-desk Employees
A brief discussion on each tip follows below.
Encourage Strong Security Practices
Cybersecurity is a very sensitive aspect of the business. Once a breach has occurred, the damage is done. Your focus should be on affirming strong security practices among your employees. This is a preventive measure which is much better than any curative measure against cyber attacks. You need to get security into your employees’ daily routine. An annual 2-hour training session on cyber security is not going to ingrain these practices in your employees. People tend to forget things, and this is a risk in itself. A breach may occur because of your employees’ mistakes or negligence. Instead of one big session, it is more advisable to insert small amounts of knowledge into their daily workflows. The idea is to reinforce security practices on employees every day until they become routine. This will go a long way toward lessening breaches due to your employees.
Engage Employees In Security Practices
Strong security practices are essential for your company, but too often they seem like an annoyance to your employees. A good rule to follow is to find ways to engage your employees in the learning of these security practices. While training employees on security, it’s often effective to use points, rewards, games, and leader boards to engage them. Also look for ways to fill in the gaps in knowledge that your employees have about security. This will keep your employees engaged in a fun activity while learning the security essentials that your company needs. This means they are far more likely to remember information and work on it. It also is a good way to gauge what your employees do and don’t understand, so you can adapt your training.
Establish A Comprehensive Security Database
One of the biggest problems with elaborate cybersecurity structures is employees’ forgetfulness. One way to counter this is having an extensive security knowledge database and giving your employees access to it. The database needs to be comprehensive and fast. Your employees should be able to access specific critical information immediately. If this involves too much time, your employees are likely to ignore security practices or even make costly mistakes. However, if the information is quick and easy to find, your employees will likely use it. Your database should be fast, accessible and searchable. This is essential if you want to quickly give your employees relevant security information.
Improve Communication With Employees
Cyber attacksare increasingly becoming more sophisticated and are constantly evolving. As new threats emerge, you need to take timely action to get your employees updated. You can’t use outdated security manuals or annual security briefings to tackle this. What you need is an effective communication system to be able to reach all employees immediately. This will let you immediately share critical security information with your employees. By doing so, you’re making your cyber-defense more dynamic.
Include Non-desk Employees
When discussing cybersecurity, many people assume it applies to employees with desks. Or, to be more precise, people with access to computers. This may have been true a decade ago, but things have changed a lot since then. These days, any device that can connect to the internet is a possible security risk. This means the growing Internet of Things could be the biggest cybersecurity threat to businesses globally. Something as simple as a smart thermostat could potentially expose loopholes in your network security. In fact, the CIA and many hackers have proven it’s possible to hack into a Smart TV. What this means is that your desk-based workforce, as well as off-the-desk workforce, need to be equally informed.
Cybersecurity is an equally serious matter when it comes to How to Keep Kids safe Online. Both involve dealing with evolving malicious threats and both involve strict vigilance. But by teaching both kids and employees good practices, you can keep them safe from the big, bad internet.