In the workplace, cybersecurity should be everyone’s responsibility. Cybercriminals often prey on employee error, such as clicking on malicious links and creating passwords that are easy to guess.
Everyone, from the new hires to senior leaders, should be responsible for keeping the organization’s IT systems secure.
By reminding employees of the best practices on online safety, your organization can avoid being a victim of cyber-attacks.
Here’s a guide to workplace cyber security.
1.) Use Strong Passwords To Protect Data
One of the most effective strategies for cyber security is using strong passwords to protect data and computer systems.
Your computers will contain a lot of business-critical information, including the personal data of your customers and details of online accounts that you access using the company computers.
To prevent unauthorized access to this information, you must switch on password protection.
Password protection requires setting a strong password to secure the company’s data. With password protection, only those with passwords can access computers with critical data.
Businesses must implement procedures to educate employees on password protection and safe practices when creating and using passwords.
No one should divulge their passwords and relevant username to other people. In addition, employees should refrain from using one password for all accounts.
They should be creative in generating passwords. It should contain numbers and symbols and upper- and lower-case letters.
Another way to strengthen the password is by utilizing multi-factor authentication, which requires permission from another device to grant access.
When implemented correctly, passwords are a free and easy way to protect your company against unauthorised access to computers and minimise the threat of cyber-attacks.
2.) Recruit Effectively
There are various risks involved in hiring a new employee. Nowadays, it seems almost every day that you hear stories about employees committing fraudulent work and even cyber-attacks.
In fact, studies show that most cyberattacks are inside jobs. While there are outside pressures in society that force people to commit such acts, you can minimize the threat by focusing on hiring talented and trustworthy employees.
In addition, companies should not overlook the importance of recruiting Linux specialists and embedded software engineers who can implement effective cybersecurity strategies.
These people are trained in this area and can help establish a secure workplace.
The best way to attract employees you can trust is to make ethics an essential part of your core brand image.
Ethical people will choose to work for companies with values similar to theirs. Honest employees will not want to work with dishonest people or companies with high-level unethical behaviors.
When establishing a culture of an ethical and honest workplace, make sure to apply it in all aspects of the business.
For instance, if you’re in the manufacturing business, ensure your products are ethically produced.
3.) Ensure You Back-Up all Data
Companies collect and produce large amounts of data every day, from consumer to employee and systems data.
Losing any of this can be significantly devastating for the business. It is for this reason that companies should consider backing up data.
All businesses, whether big or small, must take regular backups of their critical data and ensure these backups are updated and can be restored.
In doing so, your business can function in the event of a fire, flood, theft, or physical damage. More importantly, if you have backups of your data, you can’t become a victim of ransomware attacks.
When backing up your data, keep it separate from your computer. It should be somewhere not easily accessible by anyone.
You can also consider using the cloud for backup. Using cloud storage means your data is physically separate from your location.
Data security is integral to business continuity, and data backups are an essential aspect of this.
Backing up your data ensures you have a complete copy of your systems ready to restore in case of data loss.
4.) Implement Training
Another way to keep the workplace safe against cyber attacks is to provide appropriate training.
There are online business compliance courses that can train employees about cybersecurity to ensure that everyone in the organization will know how to deal with cybersecurity threats.
Training is an effective strategy used by security and IT professionals to prevent and mitigate cybersecurity risks in the workplace.
It helps employees understand their roles in combatting security breaches at work.
The training also helps employees understand proper cyber practices and how to identify potential cyber-attacks.
According to research, human error is involved in over 90% of all security breaches. Thus, educating employees through training can help minimize the risks of cyber-attacks.
An effective training program should address the mistakes most employees often make when opening emails, using the web, etc.
The training should focus on engaging today’s workforce to minimise user risk. It has to be persistent and delivered regularly to fit within the busy schedules of employees.
As it’s a business compliance training, it should also talk about compliance practices, ensuring that employees understand the relevant laws, regulations, and internal policies governing your organization’s daily operations.
5.) Create An Action Plan
Considering that more than half of businesses have experienced cyber attacks in the past few years, every organisation needs to take the necessary steps to mitigate the threats to cyber security.
One of the best ways to do this is to create an effective cybersecurity action plan to improve your organization’s security and resiliency.
Cybersecurity action plans apply a top-down approach in establishing objectives and protocols to ensure workplace safety.
They outline the duties of every individual in the organization and define who will be responsible for what.
The plan should also address what should take place in case of a cyber-attack and how the organization should respond.
Lastly, the action plan should recognize the fact that cyber threats are constantly evolving. Thus, they should devise ways to adapt to guarantee top-notch security.
When designed and implemented correctly, the cyber security action plan can align with the strategic business goals, resulting in a more efficient business operation.
