Establishing A Cyber-safe Workspace
March 18, 2024

In the wild world of the internet, where threats lurk around every digital corner, boosting your team’s cyber resilience is the most vital measure that needs to be taken for your organization. Ensuring the resilience of your workforce against cyber threats is no longer a choice but a necessity.

Even though the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks are rising, many companies continue to neglect to give their staff proper cybersecurity training. According to the UK government’s 2023 Cyber Security Breaches Survey, just 18% of British enterprises that faced 2.39 million cyberattacks in the previous year trained their employees on cyber security.

Employees who receive insufficient security training are frequently ill-prepared to handle current and future cyber threats. According to a UK-based study by the Chartered Management Institute, only 10% of managers were familiar with security fundamentals including creating secure passwords and identifying phishing emails.

Despite people being involved in 74% of cyber security breaches (e.g., by clicking on harmful websites or opening documents in phishing emails), this knowledge gap still exists, according to the Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report.

Educate and train employees

Thus, according to Tris Morgan, general director of security at UK telecoms major BT, businesses need to prioritize cybersecurity hygiene and create a “cyber-conscious company culture.”

He believes that businesses should regularly train employees in internet safety and provide them with the tools they need to make wiser judgments about potential threats to their online privacy.

Employees should be encouraged to “openly discuss safety concerns and report these” as part of the process, rather than “apportioning blame to employees if they fall foul, and celebrating when they do spot a cyberthreat.” According to him, businesses may enhance their cyber security training initiatives by incorporating extra security measures like secure corporate WiFi, password discipline, virtual private networks, antivirus, and anti-malware software.

According to Morgan, 61% of UK businesses find it difficult to stay up to date with cyber security procedures. “However, companies can increase cyber resilience for the upcoming year by creating a cyber-focused company culture and a strong foundation of security protocols for staff.”

According to Bharat Mistry, technical director at IT security company Trend Micro, an effective cyber security hygiene plan includes “leadership commitment,” where CEOs practice good security habits and “encourage employees to do the same”.

He suggests doing “regular access reviews” to “ensure privileges remain appropriate” and “consider restricting access to data and systems, based on roles and responsibilities — to minimize the impact if one account is compromised.”

Mistry continues, “An interactive training program that simulates common cyber security threats, like phishing emails, can be a good way to increase employee awareness and responsiveness”.

Will these efforts be enough?

Threats are not always evident. According to James Watts, managing director at Databarracks and a business continuity specialist, staff members will likely find it difficult to recognize targeted attacks, even though they may find it easier to detect phishing emails if they have typos or incorrect formatting.

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So, how can companies make sure that their important and private data is safe?

Every employee in a firm, including CEOs, IT personnel, and marketing staff, has a responsibility to safeguard the company’s information against cyber threats and attacks. Leaders and staff members can take precautions to guarantee that the company is shielded from any losses in revenue, resources, and reputation.

Implement a robust cybersecurity strategy

You could find it useful to perform a cybersecurity audit to evaluate the state of affairs at your company. What safeguards are in place for security? Are all staff members informed about possible security dangers and risks, as well as how to counter them? Are all of the company’s data and networks secured by many security layers?

This will help you create a cybersecurity plan that puts people first. It must be strong enough to safeguard all kinds of data, but particularly private and sensitive data. In addition, the strategy ought to be people-centric, which means that it should act in a way that is advantageous to its workers and end users and takes their welfare into account.

Update and enforce security policies

Companies must constantly update their security policies in response to the adoption of new tools, technologies, and data-handling procedures by various departments and operations. It is imperative to have security policies, which should be updated regularly and staff taught to adhere to policy updates. 

Zero-trust architecture, a systematic approach to cybersecurity that continuously validates at every stage of digital contact with data, is a best practice for implementing security standards. Multi-factor authentication and computer settings that demand users enter their password every ten minutes are two examples of this.

Control access to sensitive information

The IT department is in charge of managing access to information in every firm. This includes limiting access to highly classified data, security passwords, and other resources. Sometimes, trade secrets and financial information about the company can only be disclosed to a certain group of people. The majority of employees are given the fewest access privileges feasible; occasionally, access is only provided upon request or in certain situations.

Monitor third-party users and applications

Whether on purpose or not, third parties having access to the systems and apps used by your company could pilfer your data and result in cybersecurity breaches. You may identify fraudulent activity and stop breaches by keeping an eye on user behavior, being cautious to limit access to critical data, and offering one-time passwords.

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Businesses need to make sure that cyber resilience is “embedded in every part of a person’s job” and that all employees have “the right mindset” for responding to “entirely new and unknown threats” as opposed to merely “known threats.”

Simply put cross-organizational cooperation and trust will be necessary if even the most skilled cyber security team is to stay up to date with new threats. Remember, in this digital battlefield, the best defense is a united and cyber-savvy team. 

(Tashia Bernardus)

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