How to Educate Your Staff About Cybersecurity

The best way to handle the potential for a data breach is to plan for such an event. Working with all of your employees to make certain they are mindful of how their activity can heighten or reduce the chance of an outsider threatening your or your customers’ information. Take the opportunity to review your security protocols with all departments within your company using the following tips from industry experts:

Make Cybersecurity A Regular Topic

Check in frequently with your employees about proper practices regarding data security. Keep in mind that almost all of your staff are using one or more mobile devices to access your servers, making this quickly evolving area a hot issue to discuss when defining your security expectations. Any change in staffing should be a reminder to reconvene to cover at least the security basics; remember new employees are not acquainted with your protocols.

Include Management and IT in the Trainings and Discussions

Do not assume that technical staff and upper management are immune to security attacks. In fact, because of their ability to access the network with administrative passwords these individuals are particularly vulnerable and may be targeted if someone is looking to infiltrate. Business owners and partners need to take this issue just as seriously as every other employee. Information and technical specialists should not be arrogant about their specialized knowledge in this area and should continue to be open to learning about new threats and ways to avoid them.

Focus On Shoring Up Your Least Sophisticated Employees

While you are devising your security strategy, be certain that every employee is equipped with practical information to keep them and the company secure. One way to do this is to seek input from all of your employees about your security measures. Do not make the procedures so complicated or onerous that the workers in your business refuse to follow them or work ways around them.

On occasion, give employees tests to ensure they are savvy enough to identify a threat. Make it fun but make it real. Incentives for proper identification can’t go wrong.

How to Identify Possible Attacks

Share with your employees some common and not-so-common ways you are aware of how cyber criminals have succeeded in breaching a company’s security. Keep your staff up to date on the methods by which you company could be compromised. Prior to even the whisper of an attack, have a response plan in place with the goal of having an IT specialist notified about any potential attack in less than a minute.

As more work is done remotely, be sure to integrate safeguards for mobile devices and cloud servers. If you are using cloud servers for all or even part of your business, use the security measures that providers can offer to keep your documents, communications and data safe.

Social Media

Businesses use a variety of social media to communicate and promote products and services. Take care that this use does not open areas vulnerable to attack. Do not neglect an old fashioned breaking and entry attack either, taking care with cold calls or people posing as former employees.

Alerts and Notifications

Although no business wants to become overwhelmed with false alarms, be tactful with employees who alert you to threats that turn out to be unfounded. Examine any report carefully and modify training if you feel there is a misunderstanding. When trouble does arise be as transparent as possible about the attack and move swiftly to your plan to stop and remedy the attack.