What Is Cyber Security Awareness?
Human error is still the weakest link in any organization’s digital security system. This study discovered that 95% of breaches experienced by businesses happened due to human error. People make mistakes, forget things, or fall for fraudulent practices. This is where cyber security awareness comes in.
Cyber security awareness is a set of policies, procedures, and practices that help ensure employees understand their roles and responsibilities in protecting networks and data from attacks. By making employees aware of the scope of the threats and what’s at stake if security fails, companies can remain prepared for risks associated with this vulnerability.
Cybersecurity awareness training is an essential component of any organization’s cybersecurity strategy. The rate of change in technology is so high and new exploits are invented daily that employees need regular updates on the latest threats, best practices, and how they can take ownership of their own security. If you’ve experienced a cyber-attack or data breach and want help recovering from its effects on your company’s finances, contact IT Support Kentucky today.
Top Reasons Why Your Employees Need Cybersecurity Awareness Training
The goal of cybersecurity awareness training is to help employees better understand the threat landscape and what they should do if they suspect a breach is taking place. This training can be done in-person or virtually, with an instructor or on your own.
Attacks are on the rise with remote work
When a company has a remote workforce, it becomes more difficult for employees to identify cybersecurity threats. When working in close proximity to each other, co-workers can easily spot if someone is acting suspiciously. This is not possible with remote workforces. There are many ways a cyber-attack can be executed against employees who work remotely, including:
- Phishing attacks (Phishing is the weapon of choice used in 90%of data breaches)
- Social engineering techniques
- Malware infections or other malicious software (malware) such as ransomware, spyware, and key loggers that are installed on your computer without you knowing about it.
- Remote access attacks on servers and computers that store sensitive information
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks aimed at bringing down websites by overloading them with too much traffic
Improve information security standards through cyber security awareness
You can’t just assume that your employees understand the importance of information security, or know what they should and shouldn’t do to keep their workstations and devices safe from cyber threats. If you want to improve the standards of information security in your organization, it’s important that all employees receive cybersecurity awareness training.
By giving them this kind of training, it will help them understand how to keep their data safe from cyber threats. They’ll also gain insight into how important it is for them to protect their personal information as well as devices like smartphones and laptops from being hacked by others who want access without permission.
Cybersecurity awareness training should be part of the onboarding process for new employees. It’s also important to make sure that existing employees are updated on their training at least once per year—and perhaps more frequently if there is a major change in the cybersecurity threat landscape or technology.
In addition to providing basic security information like passwords, firewalls, and antivirus software updates, organizations should also consider offering additional resources such as:
- Information about phishing scams and how to avoid them through email or social media
- Tips for improving your password habits (e.g., don’t use the same password for multiple sites)
- Ways to spot fake emails from hackers trying to trick you into clicking on malicious links or attachments
Minimize human error
Malicious intent isn’t the only way to cause problems. In many cases, it’s employees who are unaware of the importance of security measures or who are tempted by deceptive pop-up messages or phishing emails that put their data at risk.
As we’ve seen with recent high-profile incidents like the Equifax breach and WannaCry ransomware attack, even organizations that have systems in place can end up compromised because something went wrong at either end—the employee’s device or their network connection.
It’s important for organizations to educate their staff about how these attacks work so they can prevent them from happening in the first place.
To minimize monetary damages
Cybersecurity awareness training is important because it can prevent financial losses to your business. Cyber attacks are becoming more prevalent, and they can have devastating effects on organizations. According to the 2021 Cost of Data Breach Study by Ponemon Institute and IBM, phishing attacks now cost companies nearly $15 million annually.
While there are no guarantees that cybersecurity awareness training will prevent cyber-attacks or data breaches entirely, it does provide another layer of protection for your organization. In addition, many companies offer cybersecurity awareness training programs at no cost or as part of an insurance premium discount or rebate program with their insurers.
Compliance requirements demand employee training
Compliance requirements in many states and countries now demand employee training. This includes:
- Compliance requirements: Financial institutions have been required since 2005 to train their staffs about information security best practices because they handle sensitive information (like credit card numbers) on behalf of customers each day. This regulation has existed for nearly 15 years—yet today one-third of financial institutions still don’t offer this basic level of protection!
- Legal requirements: Starting January 22nd 2020, any company handling personally identifiable information (PII) will be legally required under California law SB-327 which states “The person or entity shall provide initial and annual notices regarding privacy rights” as well as how they protect personal data from unauthorized access and loss by implementing “reasonable administrative safeguards” such as encryption technology or physical controls over computers containing sensitive data such as passwords and usernames stored in clear text form.
It’s important that all organizations educate their employees about cybersecurity because it affects everyone. It’s not just about protecting yourself from hackers—it’s also about protecting your colleagues and keeping the business running smoothly by fixing problems quickly. Your employees need to be trained in their roles in information security so they can carry out their jobs with confidence.
