Employee Security Awareness Training is the key to keeping your business safe from cyberattacks. When it comes to Cybercrime, 2021 was a record-breaking year, and it is not showing any decline in 2022.  Somehow it seems business owners and users have become powerless against it.  We have to consistently educate businesses and users about risks to prevent widespread damage and disruption resulting from cyber incidents. 

As we’ve seen and heard, cybercriminals aren’t just after businesses and consumers. Cyberattacks on utilities and infrastructure providers, production facilities, and hospitals have risen dramatically in the last few years. So, what we’ve mentioned isn’t just for people working for businesses. Non-profits, utility companies, and government employees should also take heed of our warning, Employee Security Awareness Training is a must.

The cause of the calamities:

Suppose we dig deeper into why businesses become victims of Cybercrime. In this case, we can say that:

• Attacks are becoming more sophisticated with a higher frequency every day.
• Secondly, the employees and their behaviors are in the higher percentile of why a business becomes a victim of Cybercrime.
• Thirdly, many companies still don’t fully understand the threats they’re facing from cybercriminals and how to defend their networks against them and protect their data.  This stems from the fact that cybersecurity isn’t integrated into everyday operations for many businesses.   Therefore, the management and employees take the proper defensive steps to combat Cybercrime against their company. This is where Employee Security Awareness Training comes in.  Because these attacks can cause widespread disruption of services that affect our daily lives, it’s crucial to understand the signs of a potential cyberattack.

How to get started:

So, the obvious step is businesses/organizations need to build a culture of cybersecurity that actively involves everyone in their organization.  Because employees are the weakest link in the chain, they should be adequately and frequently trained to have a great understanding of their roles in this fight and become a solution vs. a problem.

One-time employee training per year (or quarter) is inadequate and will fail to produce results.  Companies need to have regular employee security awareness training.  The training should have drills and simulated attacks (such as sending fake emails to employees and seeing if they click on the link or download the attachment), in order to determine the comprehension of cyberattack safety and prevention. 

The second important step is to have the right equipment and infrastructure to defend your network and protect your data.  Aside from Employee Security Awareness Training, these include monitoring your network, applying the patches, 2-factor authentication, password policies, proper antivirus and anti-spam, and the right firewall.  We have written extensively about this step. 

The bottom line is for businesses to consider it like any disaster (natural or manmade) and have the appropriate processes to avoid it or mitigate it. 

Please contact us to secure your business/organization against Cybercrime for further information and assistance.