It goes without saying that employees are the most valued assets in any company. Unfortunately, there are occasions when they end up falling prey to criminals on the internet. Of course, how businesses are operated has significantly been streamlined and simplified. However, this has also given cybercriminals windows of opportunity to wreak havoc on your systems and networks by disrupting and corrupting them.
The current trends reveal that many cyber threats focus on companies, specifically their employees. Such attempts target teams with phishing emails, likely hoping to steal credentials or financial assets. The dangers have also significantly escalated with more people working remotely. For this, businesses even go as far as implanting digital surveillance of their employees, which has both pros and cons.
Under the circumstances, cyber security assumes a lot of significance. Read on as we share with you five steps to cultivate cyber security culture in the workplace.
Embrace the basics
Ignoring the basics will undoubtedly lead to more significant problems. To develop a feasible plan for cyber security, you’ve got to bring everyone on board. The first step towards this direction is to handle the password protocol. You should immediately put a strong password policy that shall significantly strengthen your defense against intruders, making it much more difficult for them to access your systems and penetrate them.
You may raise awareness about your password policy as a part of training for overall workplace security. You may also implement measures to boost security through existing security mechanisms like multi-factor authentication (MFA) or single-sign-on (SSO). Of course, employees should also get access to password managers to make it easier to manage all different passwords.
We strongly recommend educating your employees about how important and relevant these mechanisms to raise cyber security are. We advise that you limit access to all data, systems, and software to only those employees who need them for their work.
Impart training on cyber security
Companies must organize cyber security training programs that equip employees with the requisite knowledge and tools for effectively countering online threats.
Improve employee engagement by handing out rewards and incentives based on course outcomes. You can ensure a healthy security environment by rewarding your employees for maintaining good security practices as it encourages them.
Motivate your employees
This step is a follow-up to what we have said above. From the top management to the junior employees, including contractors, consultants, and any other agent that your company may have employed, the responsibility of cyber security should be shared by all. Inspire every team to take charge of their cyber security.
It can be done by sharing the vision and mission of optimized cyber security. It’ll be a platform where employees share ideas about security that may have been overlooked otherwise. Reward employees who are particular about cyber security and maintain healthy cyber security practices. Remember, you shall have to lead from the front.
Make security top priority
If you are to ensure a high level of awareness regarding online security and establish healthy cyber security culture, raise awareness about cyber security as a top priority. You may do so by holding educational seminars or organizing courses and webinars so your employees are kept abreast of the latest security trends and issues they should know.
You may send out email announcements to every employee highlighting top security tips and the best security practices your employees need to maintain.
Leave lines of communication open
You need to keep the lines of communication open, which is very important for preventing mistakes. Ensure that no employee is judged or ridiculed when they approach the IT department to inform them about any error they may have made.
It’s a good practice to put in place channels where employees feel free to discuss issues related to cyber security and clear all doubts they have. You may use tools like Slack having specific IT channels to implement this.
An effective security measure is to install a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which ensures that your employees stay safe every time they go online. The VPN shall connect your employees to the internet through remote servers, minimizing tracking and chances of data interceptions. Additionally, a VPN download lets you ensure that all employees use secure networks regardless of their location. If they enable VPNs, their connections remain safe.
Final Thoughts
It’ll take time to build an organizational culture where cyber security is given due importance. You’ll have to keep lines of communication open so employees can share feedback. Be sure to organize training sessions that raise awareness about cyber security.
Communicate with your employees consistently to realize the importance of cyber security, and it remains a top priority. With cybercrime incidents rising day by day, you should give cyber security enough attention. Better be safe than sorry.
