We have seen rapid advances in technology that make our lives easier. Such fast technology advancements have also led to the rise of the dark web that can wreak havoc across businesses. We have already heard the news about data breaches at some of the biggest brands on the internet. Despite such frequent data breaches, security awareness remains a nightmare among businesses globally. The pandemic situation has only added to the challenges as most employees continue to work from home with minimal control over their actions. Cybersecurity awareness training can improve business security and allows employees to acquire new skills.
The hackers usually target single employees through targeted and luring phishing emails. IBM data shows that 24% of data breaches occur due to human error. If we delve deep, we find that cyber-crime is expected to cost businesses close to US$ 6 trillion globally by 2021. Thus, we see that security is more a problem caused due to faulty implementation of IT policies and lower security awareness levels across the organization. The year 2020 had seen significant data breaches across several brands. There has been an incident where around 280 million Microsoft customer records were left unprotected on the web. An unsecured database belonging to Estee Lauder exposed about 440 million customer records. Lapses in cybersecurity can bring severe repercussions to brands, making cybersecurity awareness training the need of the hour.
The need for ongoing cybersecurity training
The average cost of a data breach is projected to be around US$ 3.86 million. Most often, data breaches occur due to mismanagement of the cybersecurity process. Phishing is also common when one of your employees may fall prey to one such email. Businesses must have durable cybersecurity processes, and periodic training must form an integral part of such processes. There must be a proper incident response plan too.
Such a robust plan requires you to onboard all the employees, and not only the IT team staff. Cybersecurity must be a way of their daily job responsibilities. Once all your employees get trained, there is a lesser likelihood of any vulnerabilities. Businesses whose employees are aware of cybersecurity best practices have a better brand image and are more trustworthy in their audience’s minds. There is no fear of adverse publicity, and you have loyal customers.
Moving to HTTPS can help.
One of the critical aspects of cybersecurity training is to ensure that the organization moves to the HTTPS platform. Moreover, employees must also understand how an SSL certificate can help prevent data breaches. Network attacks can happen in an insecure connection as hackers can inject malware. You can avoid this by installing an SSL certificate to ensure that any communication with the webserver is encrypted. It provides the necessary integrity and confidentiality that is needed. If you are looking for budget friendly SSL cert then, few names can be considered like Comodo SSL Certificates, RapidSSL Certificate and GlobalSign certificates.
Moreover, moving to HTTPS helps to build trust in the minds of the visitors to your website. You can also use modern protocols that can improve page speed. The cybersecurity training modules must include a module on SSL certificates and how employees must only visit secure websites that use the HTTPS protocol.
Benefits of Cybersecurity training
Leads to better information security
Organizations continue to handle loads of data during their ongoing operations. It becomes necessary for the concerned employees to ensure that proper steps are taken to protect the data. Your cybersecurity training modules must include the steps that must be taken to ensure data security. It is better to provide a checklist that will help the employees assess whether proper systems are in place to ensure the sensitive data stored in the servers is safe.
A good training program will help to acquaint the employees with the cybersecurity processes that were laid down. The policies may not be easy to understand for all the employees. Such programs will help them know the detailed features of the processes to be undertaken and the precautions to be taken during their daily activities.
Adhering to compliance
E-commerce companies have been mandated to adhere to specific guidelines, like the PCI-DSS. It helps to ensure that the website is a trustworthy one where customers can undertake financial transactions. Studies also show that staying compliant with laid-down practices is a more effective way to ensure that sensitive data is safe. Staying compliant with such guidelines can also work for you in the unfortunate event of facing a cyber-attack.
It becomes necessary that your employers, vendors, and other stakeholders know these guidelines and adheres to them. Periodic cybersecurity training can allow the stakeholders to be aware of the steps to adhere to the laid down procedures. It will help them to remain vigilant against all cyber threats. They can understand the problems and help to form a robust security layer for the organization.
Address increased use of technology.
The technological advancements have led to offices utilizing them to enhance productivity and reduce costs. Such rampant use of new technology has its flipsides too. If not handled properly, they can be the avenues for data breaches by hackers. The responsible people must be acquainted with the processes to be undertaken to ensure the networks remain safe.
It becomes necessary to undertake cybersecurity awareness programs to allow the employees to know how to operate advanced technologies. They can also be trained about the possible vulnerabilities and how to plug them. Such training will ensure the employees are more alert when doing their daily activities and inform proper personnel whenever they find any deviation from the ordinary.
Remote work throws up new challenges
Remote working is currently in vogue. It throws up newer challenges to the internal security team. As these employees are not in the office, it becomes difficult to track what they are doing. It throws up newer vulnerabilities for businesses. The remote workers must be brought into a security awareness training program to be informed of what they must not do.
Most often, employees are seen working from cafes and public places. Hopefully, they would not be using public wi-fi systems as it could lead to potential data breaches. The cybersecurity training sessions must also consider the points that employees must keep in mind when working from public places. The employees must be informed about the issues they must keep in mind when working from public places.
Knowing the cybersecurity best practices
Studies have shown that accidental exposure by employees is among the common cybersecurity threats. It is another reason why promoting IT security must be imbibed across all employees across the company. It is necessary to train your employees on cybersecurity best practices. It will help them understand the best practices that must be adhered to prevent any data breach.
It could start by informing them about password best practices and informing them about how phishing emails can lead to a breach. Also, faulty password sharing practices can be a significant loophole in the overall network. The employees must be the first line of defense against any cyber-attack. But they must also be provided with adequate security awareness training at regular intervals.
Drive awareness to minimize risk
Your employees can be the resource to provide you with information about possible vulnerabilities across the network. It is essential to train them so that they are aware of the latest industry-wide best practices. It will also help them in suggesting ways to plug the gaps in the networks. Once trained, they will not resort to any activities that could lead to potential data breaches.
The IT team members can also gather knowledge about the employees’ risks and make suitable changes to the cybersecurity plan. The new employees must also be provided with cybersecurity awareness training to make them aware of the activities they must not do when not within the official networks. They can also be adequately trained to come up with suggestions to improve the overall plan.
Safeguards your reputation
A data breach can erode your brand reputation apart from punitive action from the government agencies. The customers will be forced to leave, as well. It will be beneficial to organise regular security awareness training programs to keep your employees informed of any changes in the internal security practices and the latest trends.
A study from Kaspersky shows that 69% of people are stressed when they hear news about a data breach. Keeping your employees informed about the latest attack methods and providing threat intelligence continuously can help to thwart such attacks. The training sessions can prevent data breaches and thereby keep your brand image intact.
Conclusion
Hackers have been using the latest techniques to breach the security apparatus laid down by businesses. Most breaches are due to human error, and it becomes essential to minimize this risk. The topmost challenges faced include email security and increasing the cybersecurity awareness of employees. It becomes necessary to keep the employees informed about the latest trends and methods adopted by hackers to target official networks. Periodic training covering all your employees is the need of the hour. The benefits are several, and one among them is that your security apparatus becomes more impregnable than before.