Cybersecurity Training Is The Best Defense

Did you know that 95% of security breaches are caused by human error? Cybercriminals attack organizations daily, and their primary target is you and your employees! The best way to fight back is to implement strong cybersecurity training programs and make it a key component of your corporate culture.

Think about this – 45% of employees receive NO cybersecurity training, and 58% of business leaders have no clue about how to handle security incidents. Are you one of them? Remember, cybercriminals no longer attack an infrastructure; they target you and your behaviors. Even if your employees have a good understanding of how to protect corporate data, the risk that they will be the primary cause of a data breach is extremely high! For instance, 78% of employees have a solid understanding of the risks of suspicious links in emails. Yet, they still click on them! 

Your employees are the first and most important line of cyber-defense. Investing time and resources into a strong cybersecurity training program is necessary and, depending on your industry, possibly required by law. Are you hesitant about making cybersecurity training a key element in your corporate culture? If so, consider this, businesses that implement routine cybersecurity training and awareness reduce security risks by 70%, which results in massive returns!

Be consistent with cybersecurity training. Your employees need to stay up-to-date, be reminded about existing threats, and know-how to recognize them REGULARLY.

Extend training to everyone in your organization. Every employee in your organization, including senior leadership, should receive training.

Make training ongoing. Consistent and persistent training is needed. Periodic micro-training videos are one way to keep your employee’s cyber awareness guard up and active. Don’t assume that one session is enough!

Simulate attacks, based on the most current and  prevalent IT security threats. Focus on social media spam with password-stealing malware, phishing, spear phishing, malware, ransomware, social engineering, etc.

Train to identify threats from emails and the internet. Train employees on how to identify suspicious links and attachments. Also, teach them safe browsing habits.

Discuss the security risks of removable media and charging cables. Emphasize the risks of using USB drives or mobile chargers on work computers. It can be infected with malware or a virus!

Educate how to prevent spatial issues. Cybersecurity goes beyond our computers. Make sure employees now to keep their work environment controlled. Such as not leaving work computer on and not password protected, or not letting someone see how they type in passwords, etc.

Emphasize password management. Teach and remind how to create strong passwords and store them in a password manager.

Keep training engaging and simple. Mix up your training methods to keep it interesting and not predictable.

Make cybersecurity awareness a priority and a key element of your business culture.

Conduct cybersecurity training regularly.

Provide training sessions to every employee in the organization, even executives.

Keep your employees up-to-date on prevalent IT threats.

Conduct regular tests to help reinforce their training.