Why it’s Crucial to Educate Your Employees on Cybersecurity

No organization wants its business data to be leaked or hacked. Such an eventuality is critical if the organization is handling sensitive data of the kind that government agencies and financial institutions handle. Cybersecurity is a vital issue nowadays, with cyberthreats becoming more complex. Furthermore, did you know that almost 90% of cybersecurity issues are caused by human error? Organizations can be the target of ransomware, spam, hacking, social engineering, or malware attacks. A careless mistake by even a lone employee has the potential of compromising sensitive business data. That is why it’s crucial to educate your employees on cybersecurity.

Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 The potential impact of cyber incidents 3 Hazards of working on public WiFi networks 4 Attend regular cybersecurity training sessions 5 Grow confidence 6 Make your technological defences more robust

 

Employees need to know the potential impact of cyber incidents on your organization

 

You need to explain to your employees the consequences of being careless with cybersecurity. They should be educated on what could be the negative effect of using laptops unattended on a train or in a coffee shop. How revealing their personal information on social media (memorable dates, kids’ names, etc.) may give cybercriminals clues about them that they can use to try and hack passwords. Many of your employees may not even know how such everyday behaviours could jeopardize your business data and compromise your organization’s security.

 

Employees need to know the hazards of working on public WiFi networks

 

The trend of remote work is sweeping the world, with more and more businesses comfortable with the idea and employees happy to get a chance to maintain a better work-life balance. However, many employees may be inclined to access free public WiFi networks at coffee shops, hotels, airports, restaurants, or bookstores.
It would be best to educate your employees that public WiFi networks are insecure since no authentication is needed to establish a network connection. As a result, any cybercriminal can get access to unsecured devices on that network. In such a scenario, all your employees should consider using a PC VPN to connect to your company network. Even if cybercriminals somehow get access to the employee’s connection, they won’t be able to access the data since it will be encrypted.

 

Employees should attend regular cybersecurity training sessions

 

You should conduct regular training sessions for your employees so that they get to know the importance of cybersecurity. They should be aware of cybersecurity measures to protect themselves from hacking attempts using phishing attacks,smishing, social engineering, keyloggers, trojans, and backdoors. Apart from having new employees undergo cybersecurity training during their onboarding process, it is vital for you as an employer to conduct training sessions regularly. Furthermore, have your IT department conduct cybersecurity audits and tests on your employees to identify any knowledge gaps that you may need to address with in-depth training.

 

Your customers will have more confidence in you as an organization

 

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of cybersecurity risks. As a result, your customers would like to feel secure and safe. Any business that takes proactive measures to improve its defences against cybercriminals will generate higher levels of consumer trust. By educating your employees on cybersecurity, your customers will see you as a responsible business. And they’ll have more confidence in you as a business and in your employees who represent you.

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It will make your technological defences more robust

 

Technological defences are critical in preventing data breaches from cyber attacks. However, technological defences cannot operate in a vacuum as they require inputs from people. After all, firewalls must be turned on. Security warnings need to be recognized as such and conveyed to the appropriate person. Obsolete software needs to be updated. Educating your employees about cybersecurity is critical to ensure that technological defences fulfil their potential.

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