Educating Employees About Cybersecurity

As more and more data breaches and hacks make the news, 52% of businesses admit that employees are their biggest weakness in IT cybersecurity. It is essential that businesses devise effective plans to ensure that staff have the knowledge they need to decrease the chances of a data breach or security hack.

For new employees, the importance of cybersecurity is a mindset that needs to be built through security training from the start. New employees must understand that cybersecurity is paramount, and should be reinforced with continuous training.

In addition to this being a part of the on-boarding process, it is recommended to set up regular sessions or online forums where staff can share insights related to cybersecurity. This can include exchanging recent news about a high-profile breach, or an article about new cybercrime tactics used against companies and businesses, and how to best approach them. Most importantly, cybersecurity learning and training should be made engaging, in an effort to encourage compliance rates.

It’s important to understand that sophisticated hackers can devise highly-targeted schemes to break into an organization’s network and employees need proper training for these attacks. Below are some elements that team members should be attentive to:

Quick Cybersecurity Checklist

• Check the sender email address and name for spoofing (pretending to be someone else), especially when the sender is making an unexpected request.
• Make sure there’s nothing unusual about the email format.
• If suddenly asked for key information such as login credentials, verify the email through a phone call.
• Hover over links to make sure they lead to the right website.
• Scan any attachment before opening it.

When in doubt, ask the following: How has this person proven they are who they say they are? Why are they requesting this information? Employees need to learn how to pause and analyze the situation in order to avoid falling prey to a hacker’s attack.

Furthermore, organizations should consider providing the team with concrete scenarios about the risks associated with specific tasks. For example, the consequences of leaving computer hardware unattended, accessing personal files on a work device, and sharing sensitive company information via social media.

Senior and/or IT employees are particularly at risk as they typically have access to more information. This makes them a preferred hacker target, which is why it is crucial to ensure that a careless mindset does not develop.

Prioritizing cybersecurity does not require a full department of IT experts. Instead, organizations can provide their team members with the tools required to improve and develop cybersecurity knowledge for safer practices. At Fencecore, our priority is to help organizations keep their data safe. Our team of experts offers personalized IT solutions that make it possible for organizations to focus on what they do best.

To learn more about how Fencecore can help optimize the security of your organization’s IT infrastructure, contact us for today.

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