Back in the days, it seemed like robberies and break-ins were the biggest threat to businesses. These days, on the other hand, thieves have way more access to our sensitive data and business details than they used to do – and there are more ways to enter a business than just through the front door.
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As the people you have on the frontline, your employees should be fully up to date on how they can help out with protecting your business. It’s not just because they are the ones on the floor, though, and those who interact with potential customers the most as your employees also tend to put your company at risk without even knowing it.
Here is a handful of ways to help you out with empowering your employees and protecting your business from cyber threats so that you can get started right away.
First: Talk about cybersecurity
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Let’s start with the most obvious one first. In order to help you defend the business, your employees need to know what they’re up against; how do most companies get attacked by cybercriminals, what are the signs, and how should they react to it?
Without these answers, there is little they can do when an attack disguised as a friendly email lands on their desk. Sure, you can tell them to watch out for attempts at phishing and computer malware but there are, in fact, cyber criminals who are more intelligent than the ones who craft together the regular attempts at phishing.
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They need to know that it won’t always be obvious and it’s not necessarily as easy as avoiding the big red button that tells them to click here in order to obtain their price. Sometimes, cyber attacks happen when we least expect it and if they don’t stay alert, they could be giving away valuable details – or give those criminals complete access to it.
Give them a cybersecurity seminar
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Treat them to a seminar on cybersecurity, for example, and empower them with knowledge before you give them the practice they need to succeed. Remember to talk about the areas that are specific to your industry such as medical device hacking if you’re in the health sector to make sure everything is covered.
Remember to talk about how they use their personal devices for work as well, by the way. Being negligent with their own devices is one thing but, when it’s used for work purposes, they will be compromising the safety of your business as well as they’ll log in to the systems via their own computers.
Taking care of their own devices is, therefore, just as important as taking care of the ones they are using at work to make sure everything is completely covered. Talk about the signs of computer malware as well, by the way, so that they know how to recognize it in their own computers when they’re at home and don’t have to rely on being helped in case something should be wrong.
Next: Launch a mock attack
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A few weeks or even a month or two after these seminars, you should test their knowledge. Practical experience is, after all, way more effective than just sitting and listening to someone speak – and you’d rather have them learn from a mock attempt than the real deal.
Launch a mock cyber attack and consider whether or not their training has been sufficient. The great thing with this is that you’ll be able to spot not just those that need a bit more training but also those who know more than others. It’s important that you spend some time on this, in other words, and try to stay attentive.
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The people who managed to steer clear of the mock attack can help the others out with identifying attempts at phishing and general computer malware so that everyone is lifted to their level. If you feel like they need another brush up on their cybersecurity knowledge, you can always ask the most knowledgeable one to give the speech, by the way.
He or she will probably be happy to be recognized and valued like this – and your employees will have all the time in the world to ask their questions and get some information repeated afterwards.
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We tend to learn a lot more from our peers, in any way, and those who need a bit more information can always turn to the more experienced ones for help. It’s the kind of stuff that’s good for both your business and your employees.
