It’s a common belief that people are the last line of defense against cyberattacks. In reality, people are the first line of defense against cyberattacks. If your employees are properly trained and aware they will become one of your strongest assets against these threats.
One of the most common cyberattacks is known as social engineering. Social engineering is a term used to describe a wide variety of techniques that are used by malicious hackers to exploit human beings and execute successful cyberattacks. Hackers study and take advantage of basic human behaviors such as inquisitiveness, excitement, distraction, and indecision to trick employees when executing a cyberattack.
Phishing, The Most Common Cyberattack
One of the most common examples of social engineering attacks is known as phishing. In this cyberattack, hackers send an email trying to trick the recipient into clicking a malicious link, downloading malicious attachments, or even relinquishing sensitive information such as passwords, credit card numbers, or bank account details.
The result of a successful phishing attack can be devastating. In some cases, the targeted network is so infected that sensitive data is completely lost. In other cases, sensitive data is stolen and further exploited or resold on the dark web. There are several registered cases of unauthorized wire transfers resulting in tremendous and unrecoverable financial losses.
When your employees or managers are not trained against social engineering attacks, they are sitting ducks. They are the weak point in your organization when they are not properly trained. You may be wondering how an organization takes a group of employees and turns them into effective cybercrime fighting machines. We will discuss how this is achieved below.
Turning Your Employees into Cybercrime Fighting Machines
1. Develop a Culture of Security
Executive and management teams must commit to the creation and enforcement of cybersecurity policies, procedures, and processes. Employees must understand how to implement safe and effective cybersecurity practices and their importance in maintaining them. Personnel who transform into protective and enlightened cybercrime fighters should be rewarded for their diligence.
Tips for developing a security culture:
Create cybersecurity policies
Publish cybersecurity policies
Assign specific roles and responsibilities to employees
Proper management
Frequent communication
2. Educate and Train
The best armies are well trained and understand how to use their weapons against the enemy. They understand their mission through and through. Good armies practice and prepare for combat 24/7. Employees are soldiers of the organization, and they need to be appropriately trained to fight cyberthreats. Managers should provide employees with the right tools to fight cyberattacks.
Tips to Educate and Train:
Implement a security awareness program
Be sure that the content is meaningful and relevant
Make the training fun and engaging
Make training mandatory
Train frequently
Focus on the basics
3. Test the Effectiveness
To know if your cybersecurity culture is functioning you need to test the effectiveness of your security procedures and awareness training by doing regular checkups. There are two ways to find out if your cybersecurity policies are working correctly. These include launching a simulated attack against your company or waiting for a real attack to occur. MSPs offer services like penetration testing and attack simulations to check if your employees can identify and respond to cyberattacks.
Tips to Increase Effectiveness:
Launch simulated phishing attacks
Do security compliance tests
Include social attacks in the scope of penetration testing
Conduct tabletop exercises
Document and share the results
Learn how you can improve
At BTI we can help your employee become the strongest assets inside your organization! We have more than 35 years of experience in the field of IT, security, and communications and have the expertise you need to take your business to the next level! Contact us now to schedule a free business assessment!
Comments