Of all the resources available to companies in their fight against cyber threats, one of the most important—and overlooked—is their employees. That’s right. Human staff members play a huge role when it comes to mitigating weaknesses in your cybersecurity defenses. Unfortunately, they’re also the weakest link. You can arm yourself with the latest, greatest security tactics and technology, but all of these resources can be rendered useless if one of your employees is careless or lacking the knowledge they need to keep the company safe.
According to global cybersecurity provider Kaspersky, 52 percent of businesses say that employees are their biggest weakness when it comes to IT security. Why? Because a simple human error can have a huge impact on your company’s data or systems. The same study found that 46 percent of cybersecurity incidents occurring in the past year were due to careless or uniformed staff. Whether it’s due to momentarily letting their guard down and opening a file in a suspicious email or being completely unaware of the latest flavors of scams utilized by cybercriminals, humans are prone to making mistakes. And in business, mistakes can be costly, particularly when they involve cybersecurity.
Thankfully, you can reduce these risks by putting your employees in a better position through education. After all, your staff members are the most common entry point for hackers and malware. By educating your employees with cybersecurity awareness training, they’ll be more qualified to protect themselves and your company from cyberattacks. From learning the different types of threats and how to identify them; to the importance of password security; to your company’s specific email, internet, social media, and security policies; cybersecurity awareness training will equip your staff to do their part as your first line of defense in the fight against hackers and other bad actors.
All new employees should be required to undergo mandatory cybersecurity training upon starting work. You can achieve this by simply making it part of your onboarding process. Additionally, training should be updated and repeated regularly, say every six months or once a year. Cybercrime is always evolving, with cybercriminals constantly changing their methods of attack. Malware, ransomware, phishing, spear phishing, social engineering, business email compromise (BEC)…there’s no shortage of different ways hackers will try to gain access to your data. And who knows what they’ll come up with next month?
Your company’s IT security policies and resources are not enough to protect it. It’s essential that your employees are part of your cybersecurity strategy, and the only way they’ll be qualified to do so is by undergoing regular cybersecurity awareness training. If you need help with training or any other cybersecurity defenses, contact us today.