Cybersecurity has been around for years. Companies everywhere have adapted to its solutions like cloud services to protect their businesses. It’s continuously evolving to keep up with today’s digital demands and its advancements have led organizations to believe that cybersecurity is solely technical. However, cybersecurity was created by humans to protect against malicious human behavior.
In other words, it’s a human concept at its core, and in a business, every person plays an important role in it. Therefore, dehumanizing cybersecurity strips its culture, which leaves room for potential cyberattacks.
Corporations understand the importance of protecting their companies from phishing, ransomware, unexpected outages and other forms of cyberattacks with cloud solutions like Security as a Service (SaaS), Backup as a Service (BaaS) and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). However, businesses make the common mistake of relying entirely on the technical side of protection that they neglect the human side. A Google survey revealed that 33.3% of employees claimed to have received zero cybersecurity training in their companies.
This fallout leaves gaps for hackers, posing greater threats to the overall safety of their organizations, which is why implementing a cybersecurity culture in the workplace is vital. Every company wants a healthy culture, so why not strive for the same when it comes to protecting it? Here’s how to establish a cybersecurity culture in your company.
1. Conduct Employee Cybersecurity Training
Establishing a cybersecurity culture starts with employee awareness. However, solidifying it goes beyond just telling employees about the importance. To ensure success, businesses need to make cybersecurity best practices a company norm.
To do this, leadership should enforce cybersecurity in a manner that is both educational and engaging. Use real-life examples of the consequences that companies suffer if employees don’t abide by cybersecurity standards. Include it in the onboarding process for new hires and make sure to do refreshers for existing employees.
For better accuracy and increased engagement, administer assessments to help employees detect different types of cyberattacks like phishing, ransomware, and malvertising. Educate them on email security and what signs to watch out for on social media. Remember, employees play a crucial role in business security because they access company networks and devices daily. Aside from the technical side of cloud security, the human element of protection should be any company’s number one priority.
2. Implement a Disaster Recovery Plan
Besides investing in Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) powered by Veeam Cloud Disaster Recovery, having a widely adopted and understood disaster recovery plan in place is next on the list for a cybersecurity culture. This can be implemented in various ways. Have a disaster recovery functional team to conduct security audits and handle the recovery measures if a disaster does take place. Create an employee plan through cybersecurity training so that associates are accountable and know what to do in the event of individual attacks like email phishing.
Email phishing is among the most common cyberattacks because it can happen at any time while employees access their work emails and company networks. Provide employees with external hard drives to back up their files and checklists of what to do if they trigger or suspect a security breach. Having multiple protocols in place that are universally understood and followed prevents catastrophic data loss and a stronger security culture.
3. Set Roles and Boundaries
Setting roles and boundaries within an organization is imperative for a functioning cybersecurity culture. It’s essential to know who is responsible for training employees, who they report to, and who is in constant communication with the organization’s cloud service provider.
A good example is implementing a disaster recovery team, as stated previously. It’s also important to establish who has access to what company passwords, credit card information, and social media pages. This keeps security protocols organized and the culture secure.
4. Require Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication
Strong passwords prevent hackers from accessing login credentials. Requiring them throughout the entire organization is a simple yet effective way to maintain a cybersecurity culture. When having employees create passwords, provide a list of requirements that their passwords must meet to ensure consistency across the board.
An additional layer of security can be created with Multi-Factor Authentication. Requiring employees to utilize a password and a verification code will increase security and reduce the likelihood of a cybercriminal accessing sensitive information.
Bottomline
Although cloud computing investments assure a 99.99% security guarantee, it’s important to remember how powerful humans are, and in this digital age, businesses are both threatened and protected by humans. Thus, cybersecurity cultures in the workplace allow companies to develop stronger defenses against cybercrime so they can better shield against attacks. For more information on developing a cybersecurity culture and protecting your business contact Cyber Sainik today.