Why Training Your Employees on Cybersecurity is Key to Digitally a Safe Organization?

One-hour to three-day training sessions for increasing cybersecurity awareness among employees are available online.

22:37 24 June 2022

Ransomware attacks increased nearly 62% from 2020 to 2021. Malicious malware enters a company or individual system to gain control over crucial data and blackmail the victims into paying for releasing control over their network or system. Ransomware often results in information theft and loss of control over the device. It creates enormous damage when several systems in a network get hacked and authorized personnel do not get access to do the work.

 

Explaining about cybersecurity

Most employees have no idea about technical terms like cybersecurity, data breach, and social engineering. Create training that defines the key terms like phishing and its various types, zero-day exploits, and botnet attacks.

 

Explain what ransomware means and how it will cause various losses for the company with real-time examples. Question the employees with real-time scenarios mimicking these attacks and make them spot cyber attacks from genuine requests. Always keep the cybersecurity training for your employees. 

 

1. Simple and easily understandable 
2. Related to their work and 
3. Highly engaging 

 

The training must explain the concept with real-time examples, known breaches in the companies, and how they work. Everybody had heard about Verizon attacks and Robinhood ransomware. Showing a practical demonstration of how the virus spread will help better understand the concept. Point out how hackers can turn every employee into a potential threat using their carelessness. 

 

Always create the training content, emphasizing protecting personal devices like home computers, email, and mobile phones. Individual alertness will automatically make them stay cautious while handling the company network. Besides, relating the training to protecting their personal things will make them listen better and follow instructions carefully for their own well-being. 

 

Make the training highly engaging, asking the employees what they think about such attacks. Ask them to demonstrate how they will be careful, what they will do if there is a breach and who they will approach to report any suspicious activities. 

 

Many offices providing comprehensive cybersecurity training to their employees do not have proper security experts whom the employees can contact if they need help. Filling in such workforce gap expertise is also a must to get the most out of the cybersecurity training for the employees. 

 

Teach employees to communicate without emails

The integral part of the training must be making the employees understand emails are not the ideal and secure way to share critical official documents. Teach them elaborately about business email scams and the fake emails that might impersonate various vendors and CEOs. List multiple methods to secure the employee's personal email ID plus paid email IDs, and teach about careful ID sharing. 

 

Try to diversify your communications strategy in the office instead of contacting only through emails. Use chatbots, autobots, and office intranet to communicate simple messages or meeting alerts. Use cloud sharing to give common access to essential files or project modules. Securing such individual networks with strong security programs is easier than protecting each employee's email. 

 

Alert the employees to use office email ids strictly and not check their free Gmail account or personal email in the office. Talk to the employees about various ways of communication diversification and gather their ideas to pass on messages more securely. The integral part of the training must be making the employees understand emails are not the ideal and secure way to share important official documents. 

 

Enforce strict rules to be followed

The training must make the employees adhere to a strict set of protocols. They must teach why following these protocols are essential for data security. Each employee must know how failing to follow the rules might make them a vulnerable point in the company security system. The employees must report the loss of their devices. A survey states nearly 15% of security breaches occur through lost devices. 

 

Employees must file a complaint if they lose their mobile, personal laptop, or work laptop. Employees must know the difference between corporate usage and personal usage precisely. They must never mix personal entertainment and work devices and maintain the work account strictly on the corporate laptops. The work email account on that laptop must be well secured and subject to constant monitoring. 

 

The employees must follow strict web filtering and do install any third-party files or apps on the work laptop. They must not try dealing in crypto or doing research unrelated to work, clicking on various links using the work laptop. The employees must install all the updates rolled out for system software, OS, and firewall to keep the system secure from new threats. The training must teach them to follow suspicious activities like 

 

1. Automatic installation of a new app or browser extension 
2. Sudden strange pop-ups while starting up sudden system slow down
3. Suspicious requests from subordinates, suppliers, or superiors regarding money

 

Motivate the employees

Conduct sudden quizzes regarding cybersecurity and roll out small prizes to motivate employees to stay updated about data breaches. Share examples of cybersecurity attacks on discussion boards and company forums. Ask employees to contribute their ideas to prevent such issues in the office and how to handle the situation. 

 

Conduct periodic checks and ensure all employees adhere to strict security protocols. Train the employees who go the extra mile in securing their personal devices and the company with technical cybersecurity skills. Enhance their knowledge through specialized training using the various online courses. Make them a contact point for a few groups of employees if they suspect something fishy in the network or on their system. 

 

Mobile Security

Cybersecurity training in corporate offices must teach the employees about their mobile phone safety in an elaborate module. Most employees use their smartphones to access bank accounts, call a cab, do shopping, and perform many other monetary transactions. 

 

The mobile Wi-Fi they use will track their locations and many other browsing patterns, passwords, and usernames. The training must prevent the employees from accessing business emails on their mobile phones at any cost and use it only through the company laptop or system. 

 

Conclusion

One-hour to three-day training sessions for increasing cybersecurity awareness among employees are available online. Corporate companies must create maximum awareness about cybersecurity among their employees through such training and online conferences. Teaching employees about cybersecurity and their individual role in protecting their company data and personal information is vital for every company.