The Importance of Cybersecurity Training for Your Employees
by Josh Biggs in Tech on 30th October 2018It may sound strange, but the biggest threat to the security of your business comes from within your company. Of course, we’re not saying that your employees are dishonest; we’re saying that they might not be aware of the threats lurking at every corner of the internet.
There are many ways in which your employees can harm your business unintentionally. The most obvious security risk is using week passwords, which unfortunately, most people tend to do. In fact, the most common passwords are “123456” and the word “password”. Hackers know this and they’re willing to take advantage of it.
Of course, poor password choices are not the only security issue coming from your employees. The list of threats is huge, with some of the most common scenarios including:
- Getting caught in phishing schemes
- Visiting virus-infested websites
- Using email on publicly-shared Wi-Fi
- Using business email on an unencrypted connection
- Not having proper antivirus software
- It’s important to check the antivirus ratings
And what happens when your company’s cybersecurity is breeched? Your entire business can go down! The cybercriminals can steal away your money, as well as all kinds of important business information and use it against you. Of course, the most common scenario is ransomware. What the cybercriminals do is steal away your data and ask for money in order to give it back.
The worst thing is that cyberattacks happen all the time. According to the data from cybersecurity companies, over 4,000 cyber-attacks happen every day. And even if you manage to repel them, it doesn’t mean that the cybercriminals will give up. The experience has shown that a single company can be the victim of cyber-attacks for several times a year.
Preventing Cyber-Attacks
The easiest way to deal with cyber-attacks is to prevent them. And the best way to do it is by learning more about how these attacks work. It is essential for you to learn everything about cyber-attacks, how they work and how to prevent them. But, it’s not only important for you to learn this, but your employees as well. The best way to learn that is by going through a cybersecurity awareness training.
Generally speaking, there are three most common types of cybersecurity training. The old-fashioned classroom training is guaranteed to result in a strong engagement of your employees. It will enable them to ask questions and get the answers right there on the spot. But, if your staff work remotely, online training might be the best solution. The third method is through the use of visual aids. This way, the cyber security experts will not only teach your employees how to avoid threats, but will also be able to prevent them in real-time.
If you are still not convinced that a cybersecurity training is what you and your employees need, you ought to take a look at the infographic below!