Why Companies Need to Promote Cybersecurity in the Workplace
Cybersecurity in the Workplace is essential to keep companies secure. Leaders should promote cybersecurity in the workplace to avoid becoming victims of cyberattacks.
For small businesses, moving online is the perfect way to develop their brand and help open up new opportunities for distributing their products and services. But going online also means that the company is now vulnerable to cyber-attacks. This is why owners need to consider creating robust cybersecurity policies in addition to creating a website and digital marketing strategies. This is where cybersecurity in the workplace comes in.
Though cyberattacks are harmful to everyone, they are particularly detrimental and often, even deadly, for companies. When companies are attacked, they not only lose their own data, personal information, and money, but also their customers as well as their private data. This leads to a loss of reputation which cannot be mitigated.
It is reported that up to 43% of all online cyberattacks target small businesses as they are less likely to have a good cybersecurity team on hand. Small businesses also tend to overlook the online security aspect of their business. The good news is that there are many cybersecurity firms like SECUREU that can help businesses minimise online risks and secure themselves regardless of the size of the company.
What is Cybersecurity in the Workplace?
Cybersecurity means protecting different electronic systems, networks, and data from unauthorised access or theft. This includes steps taken to prevent, detect, and respond to cyberattacks. Cybersecurity also relates to protecting against other risks such as data breaches, phishing scams, and malware.
A company’s employees are its most valuable asset, and yet cybercriminals may see them as the path of least resistance into an organisation. Cybersecurity in the workplace intends to put a robust security education program in place to protect your employees — and by extension, your company — from falling prey to cyberattacks. Through cybersecurity in the workplace, you can protect your company’s sensitive information by ensuring that cybercriminals cannot get past your employee firewall.
Importance of Cybersecurity in the Workplace?
Cybersecurity awareness in the workplace is more important now than ever before. Although the idea of cyber threats leads to thoughts of hackers attacking an organisation’s systems or stealing data, the most significant weakness in workplaces happens to be the employees. 3 quarters of breaches happen due to human error or negligence which is why internal threats are often more important than peripheral peril.
Negligence enables hackers to use the most rudimentary techniques to get access to confidential information, thus proving that workplaces have threats on the inside as well as the outside. Most organisations tend to forget that hackers do not generally target an organisation’s technology but rather the employees through phishing emails that look like normal business communications. The RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center has stated that there is a new phishing attack every 30 seconds.
Organisational leadership and management now realise the importance of cybersecurity in an organisation and are coming to terms with the fact that their environment can only be secured by keeping cybersecurity in the workplace in mind. To truly stave off cyber threats, organisations need the participation and collaboration of each and every function and human resource regardless of their vocation or arrangement of employment.
The 2018 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report showed that 4% of employees click on phishing links and thus introduce the workplace server to a severe risk. More often than not, organisations rely heavily on designated security staff to perform special security tasks which limits the other staff’s contribution to cybersecurity in the workplace. Cybersecurity in the workplace is everyone’s responsibility and emphasis on workplace cybersecurity culture is paramount.
How to Improve Cybersecurity in the Workplace?
To promote cybersecurity in the workplace, leaders need to remind employees that cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. You can use the tips given below to help keep your workplace safe online and improve your organisation’s defence and minimise the risk of attack.
- Locking Up: Modern workplaces are split between many locations and nowadays involve remote workers. Regardless of the location of your workplace, devices need to be properly secured. Ensure that employees are educated on how to keep portable devices like laptops and cell phones secured with a passcode. If you are using a text password, you need to ensure that it is unique for each account.
- Two-Factor Authentication: It should be mandatory for employees to use 2-Factor authentication for important applications and accounts. 2F authentication reduces your risk of being compromised as a hacker would need not only your password but also your additional security method to access your account.
- Using a VPN: Employees should be taught to never use Wi-Fi without a VPN. VPNs act as secure tunnels over the Internet and encrypt traffic. Implementing a VPN to your office’s secure network will allow employees to travel while relying on the defence present at HQ.
- Being on Guard: Every single member of the organisation needs to remember that if something looks suspicious, it most likely is. Hackers will use urgent subject lines, billing-related attachments and spoofed senders to make the recipient take action. Never open or download attachments from unknown senders and always hover over a link before clicking it to make sure that you are being directed to the correct URL.
- Training: Your employees should be able to employ best online safety practices. They need to be able to recognise suspicious emails and know when to connect using VPNs. Security training awareness programs can educate employees about topics like phishing, 2F authentication, and more.
- Taking Inventory: You can only defend things that you know you have. Organisations must set up processes that track all hardware and software assets present in the organisation. Taking an inventory of devices and software are the first 2 recommendations of the CIS Controls. The CIS Controls are a set of prioritised cyber defence actions that organisations should take to improve their cybersecurity.
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