As more and more data breaches and hacks make the news, affecting businesses ranging from kitchen manufacturer OXO to investment management giant BlackRock, it’s vital that you take the time now to look at where your organization is vulnerable. So, what’s the real issue? Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window). You will receive mail with link to set new password. One of the best ways to train employees about cybersecurity is to perform a “fake” cyber attack. "Most organizations roll out an annual training and think it's … It uses multiple character sets: Each character set you use (uppercase, lowercase, numerals, symbols) adds another layer of complexity that makes it harder to crack. When an employee successfully thwarts a security attack or finds a completely new vulnerability in your system, reward them. If you're looking to deliver effective cybersecurity training to your organization, then I'd highly recommend a security awareness and phishing simulation tool to make your life a lot easier. Scalability to fit your business and flexibility to fit your growth. Since experience tends to be the best teacher, training drills are one of the best ways to help employees learn cyber security techniques. Please enter your email address. Here are a few pointers you should give to your employees: It’s better to be safe than sorry so it’s vital that your employees understand that it’s better to check and double-check everything before they proceed. Your team may understand the principles of recognizing a phishing or social engineering attack, but the key is to run those mental checks in the course of a busy workday where you have a million other concerns. As you may already know, an onboarding process means welcoming new employees and helping them adjust to the company’s culture, workplace, and work conditions. The challenge is getting your team to actually do it. Those requirements are reserved for special positions and departments. Incorporate cyber crime awareness into your hiring and training … But they often overlook their biggest vulnerability: employees. In the complex and rapidly changing world of cyber security, experts say that training … Continually emphasize the critical nature of data security and the responsibility of each employee to protect company data. Even if you know which way the trends have been pointing, it’s hard to get your head around just how regularly data breaches occur. We recommend adopting a password manager like LastPass or 1Password. It’s the price we pay for all the incredible things that technology and the cloud have made possible. Ongoing cyber security training helps ensure that all your staff has the latest knowledge on how to protect themselves and your company from cyber attacks. One way to get the message across to your team is to share cybersecurity news regularly. If organizational security isn’t a part of your onboarding, it’s time to start incorporating it into your training process from the start. That way, when you fake a cyber attack, you can show employees how the system reacts. One of the most important concepts to grasp with cybersecurity is that maintenance is a constant job. Effective cyber security training is difficult to do well. However, you should never think that your employees as a point of failure. Working with your security expert, develop policies that cover common scenarios including phishing and downloading suspicious software. Again, common sense rules apply here. The best thing you can do to prevent cyber attacks is to educate your employees. In an organization, change needs to happen from the top. The costs are more wide-ranging than most people think, and it’s helpful to use some numbers to make things more tangible. With this kind of security literacy, your employees will be less likely to fall into data breach traps. All rights reserved. A cybersecurity employee policy is the central resource employees can go to if they have any questions about cybersecurity. Even sharing their success with the entire organization will often encourage everyone else to do the same. Companies do this all the time via penetration testing to determine potential weaknesses in their security measures but never for the purpose of training employees. Remember that cybersecurity is a team effort, and you need to put your employees in a position to succeed. Employee Data Security Training: What You Should Do. When it comes to data security, many businesses tend to think of things like locks, firewalls, and the latest technology to protect their sensitive data. That said, the best thing you can do to prevent cyber attacks without hiring only cyber-security-trained employees is to educate them yourself. And keeping your defense strong will take the whole company, working together … The landscape is constantly shifting, and it can be hard for businesses to keep up. “Your people are your assets, and you need to invest in them continually,” Simpson says. The peculiar thing about cyber attacks is that the majority of them rely on human error. You should train employees once a quarter or more, with intermittent “live fire” training exercises and constant reminders about new attacks that have developed and breaches that occur. Make sure you require at least eight characters for every password you use. This informs your new employee that this is a shared responsibility. You can also … Every employee needs to become … That’s why it’s crucial that you educate your employees about the importance of using strong passwords. Companies do this all the time via penetration testing to determine potential weaknesses in … Don’t save your password in digital format; write it down on a piece of paper, instead. Can you blame them? Training is the key here, as well as constant reminders that there are threats out there and maybe even a “live fire” exercise to show how easily you can fall victim to an attack. It’s not in a regular employee’s job description to know about cybersecurity or for them to be an expert on the subject. ... After your initial training, make sure you keep your employees in the loop about any known issues or scams doing … If you have questions about products or services for your business, please contact us at 866-961-0356, or visit CoxBusiness.com. Here are a few things your employees should know: When employees use weak passwords, especially for business accounts, it becomes so much easier for hackers to exploit this weakness and gain a backdoor entrance to your company’s network. As we’ve discussed, some of the most powerful and effective cyberattacks that are out there today rely on human error. Hackers cast a lot of lines to see where they can get a nibble, but a sophisticated attacker with the right information can create a highly-targeted scheme to work their way into your network. Every company has a weak spot, and that’s usually their employees. Keith is a business journalist and freelance blogger. Understanding how to train employees for cybersecurity is essential for every organization. If you do not have protocols in place for how staff should handle a suspicious incident, now is the time to develop those protocols. Your email address will not be published. “If you don’t get your people patched continually, you’re always going to have vulnerabilities.”. You can try various different approaches to training your employees. The most effective way to train staff on the evolving threat landscape is through engaging and relevant cyber security awareness training. Training is everything when it comes to cybersecurity. It’s a good idea for companies to have reliable enterprise firewall protection. Put a price on everything, from the organizational cost of losing access to mission-critical data to the potential liability of being at fault for leaking customer information. A strong security policy is one thing. You’ll also get data as to where in your organization there’s the most room for improvement, helping you plan future training sessions as necessary. Products and services that fit the communications challenges faced by your business. If your employees are your weakest link, then make sure you train them properly so you can eliminate a potential weakness in your company’s network. The goal here is to change the way your employees go about their daily work by educating … However, weak passwords are basically an invitation to a hacker to come and breach your network. It’s changed regularly: Using the same password over and over again means there’s more of a chance for it to be compromised. Here's how to ensure the effectiveness of … It includes anything addressed in training, as well as organizational policies and best practices. New attacks develop monthly, if not daily, and your approach to guarding against them can’t be limited to annual training. That means being clear about what to do if anybody has questions, and setting up the infrastructure necessary to share new threats as they emerge and get everyone invested in organizational security. Remember that it’s better to know about a potential breach as soon as it happens, so make sure you’re creating an environment where sharing is encouraged and avoiding a situation where someone tries to cover up their mistakes and makes a risky situation even worse. Security hygiene – employees should be taught about security hygiene. How do I train my employees for cybersecurity? How has this person proven they are who they say they are? You need to teach your employees how to identify a “phishy” looking email and where to go if they have questions. Don’t be scared of employees finding a weakness in your … You can educate new recruits on how to spot potential scam attempts and data breaches, as well as how to respond in such situations. 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