You have the best tools and cyber security processes that your equipment allows. You are constantly monitoring and educating yourself about new safety issues. You now have a robust training program in force for your team to avoid being a victim of the global skills shortage in cyber security.

But if your work force is not following the basics of good cyber hygiene, all your hard work is wasted. So, how can you educate (and influence) them to follow the best cyber security practices?

Why is cyber security education important for work forces?

When it comes to cyber security, not everyone is on the same level. Expecting your workforce to be educated on the best cyber security practices is naive and risky. 88% Data violations are still only caused by human error.

Let's know that your work force is made up of three groups of people: workers directly from school or universities, new entrants from another company and existing employees.

Group 1 has never before had access to company property and large servers and files. Please do not have any training before entering.

Group 2, you may have had training in your previous company. However, you cannot be certain of its quality. It may not be at the same level as its parents or even relevant for its systems.

For group 3, you may be provided with cyber security training and validated as part of the process. If not, you also cannot be certain of your knowledge. As a result, it is probably safe to assume that awareness of the best cyber security practices is low.

You are welcome to have a high-level cyber security team if the rest of your team is not very knowledgeable about security. You need to be sure that everyone is clear about the basics.

Benefits of cyber security education for the workforce

As we mentioned before, data violations are still dangerously caused by human error. Just a distracted employee clicking on a link suspects that you are facing months of recovery and thousands of dollars of lost receipts.

Increasing awareness of best cyber security practices creates a culture of security in which everyone feels responsible for keeping their network safe from breaches. Properly training your team increases awareness of these cyber security risks, actively preventing data breaches. It will allow everyone to identify and report suspicious activities, and it will also make it easier for your cyber security team. This makes cyber security a concern for the entire company, not just an IT question.

Best cyber security practices for employees

Training your entire team in the best cyber security practices may seem like an impossible task. However, the reality is that many recommended cyber security practices for employees are quite simple. We can all learn to take these basic precautions:

Use strong and regularly altered sens and multifactor authentication

Regularly update the software

Faça regularly backup vital data

Only use secure Wi-Fi networks

Learn how to recognize and avoid phishing attacks Learn how to recognize and avoid phishing attacks

Be wary of missing emails, links and attachments

Lock the computer away from the table

The main point of training is to educate your officials to re-do their own activities and understand why these practices are important. Attend your training to your public. Everyone is an IT specialist. There will also be departments that rarely use computer systems in their functions. Although we still need to know the best cyber security practices, we will require a less extensive level of training.

Cybersecurity Risk Management Strategy

Of course, before educating your team about your cyber security policy and risk management strategy, you need to start first. Your cyber security risk management strategy is a high-level, long-term plan that helps you proactively prevent cyber attacks, including informing your officials on how to deal with an incident that occurs, minimizing its impact.

To develop an effective strategy, you first need to understand your scenario of cyber threats. As the business scenario is always changing, be prepared to update your strategy regularly. Since the 2020 lockdowns, remote work has become common in many organizations. However, although the best cyber security practices for remote work seem different, many organizations still do not update their cyber security management and policy accordingly.

By comparing your cyber security policies with new sector developments, you can start planning where you need to improve and how you will do it.

Cyber security training for new employees

Training your entire team may seem like an impossible task. Creating a cyber security training program for your current employees will take some time and effort, as well as planning and coordination. After your non-basic training, you can plan in advance for any accompanying and refresher courses.

The best way to avoid the Herculean task of training all of your work force is to turn your training into cyber security as part of your training for new employees. Inform all new officials about your cyber security strategy, becoming part of your integration. Cybersecurity is a concern for every company, so why not present your best cybersecurity practices as just another part of your work here?

Quality and continuous awareness of cyber security for the entire company

It seems simple, but training is an easy step to make a mistake. It is not enough to just assemble a guide to the best cyber security practices and a presentation of slides and say "This is your classified cyber security training." You need to give your team a clear view of how your actions can affect organizational safety.

Cyber security training is also not a single business. Regular support training will keep your officials informed and up-to-date on the most recent security policies. Your officials must also be tested (formally or informally) to see how much they really have received their training. We also recommend having an internal communication channel where officials can raise questions about what they learn.

This may seem like a lot to cover, but the good news is that there are many tools available to help you, such as usecure in the United Kingdom and knowbe4 in the USA.

A culture of best cyber security practices

I know that one size does not work for everyone. Every company is different and its teams operate differently too. Make sure that the cyber security training and security practices chosen are adapted to the needs of your company. The more your strategy fits your company, the better it will fit your culture.

Most importantly, he is known for leading by example. If you are following the recommended practices, it is more important than your officials do themselves. The same goes for management and leadership. Ensure that all senior team members have completed their cyber security training and encourage them to share some of their learning with their teams, keeping the security culture alive.

SOURCE: Lansweeper Blog

Knowbe4 is part of Software.com.br, a leading company in technology solutions for the corporate world in Latin America. Through partnerships with the main market manufacturers, Software.com.br provides consultancy in Digital Transformation, with specialized consultants in: Software Licensing, Cybersecurity, DevOps, Infrastructure and Data Analytics.

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