Why Employee Cybersecurity Training Matters

Published On March 22, 2018

Security breaches remain one of the greatest threats to companies from various industries. In fact, as reported by CNBC, 14 million businesses in the U.S. are at risk of being hacked. From system hacks to phishing schemes, these breaches wreak havoc on organizations of all sizes. In some cases, security breaches are difficult to prevent. However, every company should take preventative measures and provide employee cybersecurity training. While many cyberattacks are orchestrated by an outsider, some breaches are unintentionally and involuntarily initiated by employees.

This is why it is vital to provide cybertraining and tips to employees so they can identify potential risks when it comes to data and information management.

An effective method of training is performing a simulated attack specific to each employee’s job. Some would call it a live fire training exercise — a military exercise in which a realistic scenario for the use of specific equipment is demonstrated.

For example, your IT team could send phishing emails to all employees within the company and identify how many actually click on the phony link. With this information, they can analyze the data by departments and types of emails and customize training to suit the problematic areas.

It’s important to provide cybertraining from day one. Providing frequent and focused sessions to explore and identify different types of cyberattacks helps ensure all employees are aware of the threat and dangers of security breaches. Conducting evaluations of both employees and systems helps pinpoint any vulnerability within an organization.

IT professionals must create an official, authenticated strategy for cybersecurity training that is evaluated and updated accordingly regarding the latest information on attackers and additional risks.

Employees must be trained to identify any suspicious links from unknown and random sources while using workplace devices on social media platforms. Social media has become a vulnerable platform for many people, and cybercriminals know this. Some cybercrimes begin with a phone call from an individual pretending to be a constituent asking outwardly harmless questions regarding intimate information about the company, thus gathering information about the organization and its operations.

Have a documented remediation plan in place and update and revise it recurrently. There must be clear instruction on how to react when employees witness a potential cyberattack.

It is important to test your staff members on cybersecurity awareness and cybersecurity training, so they are motivated to stay knowledgeable and on top of these threats.