Your company's cybersecurity is a lot like a football game: the best defense is a good offense. With the dramatic rise in targeted attacks and phishing that has occurred over the past several years, it's important to make sure that your employees know how to recognize threats and protect their digital assets.
Although it may sound like common sense, helping your employees learn to avoid and neutralize cybersecurity risks can help your business avoid data breaches and hacks like the one that happened to BlackRock in 2019.
Interested in helping your employees learn how to protect your business from cyber-attacks? Read on to learn all about the top 8 ways that you can turn the weak links in your workplace cybersecurity system into a strong first line of defense against hackers.
Did you know that even big companies like Nissan and OXO get hacked? It's true — even big-budget companies with high-tech cybersecurity protocols can get hacked. Making employees aware of cybersecurity issues and reminding them why it's important to stay diligent is an important first step in providing them with the motivation they need to take their own cybersecurity seriously. Consider sending out a monthly or quarterly cybersecurity newsletter full of tips, best practices, and news stories to keep everyone on their toes and aware of what they can do to help prevent cyber-attacks.
The easiest way to cut down on cyber-attacks is to train employees to design strong passwords and give them the tools they need to protect them. Mandate that employees adopt passwords that are longer than 8 characters, include multiple character sets, and don't include complete words. Additionally, don't forget to remind employees that they should refrain from writing down their passwords or emailing them to themselves. Implementing and training employees in the use of a password management program like LastPass is a great way to boost your cybersecurity while also improving the convenience of your employees' day-to-day lives.
It's easy for busy employees to open emails and click on links or respond with sensitive information without thinking twice. Make sure your employees understand that spear phishing attacks are common and that they should be ensuring every email they receive comes from a trusted address and doesn't ask for sensitive personal information. Train employees to hover over links before clicking on them to see where they'll go and to refrain from opening or downloading suspicious attachments — and, in all cases, emphasize that when in doubt, it's always better to call IT about a suspicious email than it is to compromise the company's safety by engaging with it.
Did you know that almost half of all employees who know that they've been hacked don't change their passwords afterward? What about the fact that half of all employees who receive phishing emails don't bother to report them? Teaching employees what to do if an attack is attempted or occurs is crucial for helping maintain your company's cybersecurity and preventing future cyber-attacks. In addition to training employees to recognize and avoid cyber-attacks, don't forget to train them in what to do once a cyber-attack occurs. Even the most tech-savvy among them may not be sure what to do.
Ultimately, having a workforce whose employees feel comfortable coming to you to discuss potential cyber-attacks or to confess mistakes they may have made requires fostering an atmosphere of openness and collaboration. Include cybersecurity training during onboarding to emphasize what your company's best practices are and to clarify that a strong cybersecurity effort can only be reinforced by the cooperation of the entire team. By making security and safety part of the culture of your workplace, you'll make it easier for employees to want to do their part in maintaining your company's cybersecurity.
A "live fire" practice attack is a great way to tell whether or not your training has been hitting the mark. Sending a fake phishing email from a suspicious email address during a busy workday is a perfect way to see how many employees fall for it, report it, or refuse to engage, which can help you determine what additions (if any) you need to make to your cybersecurity and/or training regimen. Just be sure to reveal the nature of the fake cyber-attack to your employees later, along with your findings and planned response.
Keeping your company's cybersecurity system airtight doesn't come cheap — but with the average cost of a data breach in 2018 reaching $3.86 million, it's a lot more cost-effective to spend more now in order to save more later. Consider reaching out to your company's executives to help fund whichever cybersecurity initiatives are perfect for you, whether that means adopting a company-wide password management system or obtaining the resources you need to conduct quarterly training sessions.
All it takes is one employee clicking on a link to bring down an entire cybersecurity regimen. But emphasizing blame and punishment for a well-intentioned mistake will only make employees feel scared and miserable. Instead, emphasize that you're all in this together. Every employee, from the lowliest intern to the CEO, has to make an effort to help preserve your company's cybersecurity and protect your digital assets from outside threats. The best way to avoid a breach or cyber-attack is to work together and communicate openly about potential threats. Making sure to emphasize teamwork instead of blame is a great way to boost morale and communicate to your workforce that every person, no matter their position, can help make a difference.
At Orbis Solutions, we take cybersecurity seriously. Whether you're looking to boost your company's cybersecurity or to learn more about how you and your employees can better prepare yourselves to avoid cyber-attacks, our staff has the dedication and experience you need to protect your data. If you want to learn more about how Orbis Solutions can help you, don't hesitate to contact us today.
Orbis Solutions, Inc., in Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin and throughout Nevada, has developed creative, strategic and cost-effective technical solutions for a wide variety of clients. Offering a diverse range of products and services, Orbis provides IT solutions to promote your company’s productivity and profitability, and help you sort through the latest-hyped technology, so you can select the best hardware, software or service for your business needs.
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