The security of technological environments has grown significantly in recent years. Companies pay rigorous attention to the effective deployment of protective measures such as firewalls and anti-virus, but on the other hand, they are slow to engage employees in their security efforts. Real security cannot be established without the participation of all employees. It’s not just about protecting the equipment, but the data as well.
The protective perimeter erected around the systems can give a false impression of security. Without the participation of all employees, however, it remains very incomplete. In order to protect yourself against cybercrime, nothing better than the cybersecurity awareness of your employees.
Cyberattacks put businesses at risk
According to a study, human error is involved in more than 90% of security incidents. An alarming figure, but of which companies are fully aware. Indeed, 48% of them do not feel properly protected against computer threats caused by the ignorance of their employees.
These IT security threats have been on the rise. The lack of employee awareness of cybersecurity in your business is one of the reasons for data leaks. Of course, banks are not the only sectors affected by the phenomenon, and all companies are threatened. Without security measures, these companies are then exposed.
- Ransom demands are commonly referred to as ransomware. This inevitably leads to a loss of money, not to mention the intervention of an outsourcing agency to solve the problem.
- A loss of data to transmit your confidential information to the competition, harm your productivity by blocking your access or stealing your identity and thus harms you.
- A computer bug that would lead you straight to technical unemployment while you solve the problem.
7 Important cyber security training awareness for employees
Faced with this ever-worsening situation, it is urgent to find effective solutions to enable companies to protect themselves against these threats. These different solutions designed to thwart computer attacks are, however, ineffective without good employee awareness. This involves carrying out cybersecurity training and certifications and other IT security actions for company employees.
In order to make its employees aware of cybersecurity, the company must therefore improve the culture of security within its structure by respecting seven fundamental rules.
- First of all, it is necessary to explain to employees the impact of a cyberattack on a company. The consequences of an intrusion into an organization’s computer system can be very serious. These include financial loss, damage to reputation and brand image, loss of data, legal penalties, destruction of computer equipment, and business interruption.
- Popularize the topic of cybersecurity by showing that the subject is accessible to everyone. Contrary to popular belief, cybersecurity is not only reserved for senior executives or technical teams. All employees are concerned. Those who will benefit from educational support will have all the tools in hand and the necessary resources to be able to improve their skills in cybersecurity.
- Offer cybersecurity training programs through concrete practical exercises. Employees will thus be able to better identify the types of cyber threats to which they may be exposed in the future and protect themselves from potential cyberattacks. They will be better able to know what reflexes to adopt and what specific actions to take depending on the situation. These learning programs can take different forms. A security test will be the best way to assess the knowledge of users and, thus, to know their degree of maturity in the field of cybersecurity.
- Encourage employees to report computer security incidents. In particular, it will have identified the assets that the company must prioritize as well as the protective measures to be put in place quickly depending on the asset at risk.
- Write an internal security policy on which it is advisable to communicate within the framework of meetings or e-mails. This internal security policy can also be displayed, like a manifesto or a guide, in strategic places of passage where employees are used to circulating.
- Show that cybersecurity awareness is treated with the same degree of importance as other major business issues. It is important to make no distinctions and to approach information security with the same degree of involvement and responsibility as for any other risk that weighs on an organization.
- Another very important action to be carried out is the training of employees in the best practices to adopt in the face of a cyberattack. It is essential to offer your employees certifying training on computer security in the workplace. Computer security training aims to inform your employees of the different types of threats that exist, how to detect them, and the means to fight them effectively. To get professional security support, you can check BCS365 alongside Managed IT or security solutions.
This awareness of computer security must also be part of a deep and long-term corporate cyberculture. Thus, the more staff have a high level of cyberculture, the more they will be inclined to be vigilant in the face of a risk of cyber attack.
Arranging regular cyber security events
To be effective, awareness must be done on a recurring basis. Many companies settle for a special safety event once a year. Certainly, this can be an effective measure so that fundamental security concepts are well understood. But for the message to be truly assimilated, it must be repeated regularly. To this end, organizations have every interest in including permanent awareness activities and measures in their overall security policy.
At the start, it is important to know that continuous awareness is adapted to the needs of each company. There is no standard recipe; it’s about doing things within your means. The costs of an awareness program can therefore vary. No matter how big this program is, it’s money well spent, an essential supplement to the large expenditures that organizations spend on protecting their systems.
Sooner or later, companies will have to realize that security awareness is not a waste of time or money. Information security has become strategic, and its effectiveness depends on the participation of all employees. For this reason, the organizational security policy should include security awareness measures.
To conclude
For the personnel of an organization to acquire adequate safety reflexes, it is important to put in place reminder measures in this regard. The best practices to adopt are known: changing passwords periodically, upgrading security applications, encrypting data in various circumstances, precautions when traveling, etc. The problem is that too many users do not use these practices systematically. It is therefore essential to make employees aware of the importance of protecting the organization’s information assets.
