In the age of online activities when hacking and security violations are gaining higher ground and along with them cyber security is a necessity and must become clearer.
Although organizations invest in sophisticated technical defenses, they frequently forget about the human firewall that is vital and is none other than employees.
Employees’ education about cybersecurity principles is the top element of security data and other information from attacks.
This article will provide information on employee cybersecurity awareness and its contribution to organizational security.
Understanding the Threat Landscape
Before getting into cybersecurity recommended practices, employees need to know the concrete threat environment. Cybercriminals use numerous approaches like phishing, social engineering, and malware to exploit companies weaknesses and gain access to sensitive information.
A true demonstration is the Equifax data breach of 2017 where hackers utilized a weakness in the company’s website to illegally access the personal data of over 147 million individuals.
Employees can be educated on how cybercriminals attack and the implications of data breaches using this knowledge as a foundation to spot and react an attacks properly.
Phishing Awareness
Phishing is one of the most widely used techniques by hackers that allow them to obtain privileged access usually without permission.
Employees can frequently fall into the trap of false emails using valid appearances of reliable senders.
In 2016, the staff of the Democratic National Committee were subjected to an elaborate phishing model which eventually resulted in unauthorized access to their confidential emails and sensitive information.
Through the frequently conducted phishing simulations and the training program on how to identify phishing malware, companies can considerably lower the chance of successful attacks.
Password Security
The vulnerable and weak passwords pose a cyber security risk to organizations since they are easily exploited by cyber criminals to steal systems and data.
In 2019, Capital One suffered an incident in which an ex-employee had used a misconfigured WAF to access information privately kept from customers.
Organizations should ensure strong password policies against unauthorized access and data breaches, use two-factor authentication systems, and educate employees on the basics of password security.
Social Engineering Awareness
Social engineering technologies, e.g., phishing and spoofing, exploit the human urge to be compassionate mainly by deceitful means.
Amongst many demonstrations, an illustrative one is the Yahoo 2016 data breach where hackers used social engineering ways to manipulate Yahoo employees and reveal their login details.
This resulted in a compromise of over 3 billion Yahoo user accounts.
Through educating employees about social engineering skills and constant reiteration of the need to confirm the identity of the request for personal information, organizations can equip employees with the skills to resist such assaults.
Device Security
As the utilization of mobile devices and remote work keeps on expanding, keeping up the security of devices used to access company networks and data has become a top priority.
Employees often apply personal devices for trading work-related jobs, which increases the possibility of theft if these devices are under the protection provided.
In 2020, the Twitter accounts of several public figures and organizations were compromised via a social engineering attack involving phishing employees who had access to account management tools.
Through implementing mobile device management solutions, establishing security policies, and conducting training on best device security practices the organizations must mitigate the risk of unauthorized access and data loss.
Incident Response Training
Although security measures are constantly being upgraded to curtail cyber threats, there is still a possibility of a successful attack.
The incident response plan is an essential instrument that keeps the potential damage from breach to the bare minimum and ensures a timely recovery.
Examples are the Target data breach in 2013 where the criminals succeeded in revealing loopholes in the vendor’s network and were able to access the credit card details of over forty million customers.
Companies can restrict the negative impact of an incident during a breach via the regular practice of conducting incident response drills, providing training for members on the identification and reporting of security incidents, and making sure the communication channels are always available.
Conclusion
In the end, cybersecurity knowledge training is vital in building a robust human firewall and ensuring organizational security.
Eventually, an educated and alert workforce will be the first line that will protect the organization from cyber-attacks. It will therefore keep the data and the information systems in the organization safe and secure.
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