Bringing awareness and training to employees is critical to address vulnerabilities that are caused by people. Since three-quarters of all cyberattacks or data breaches start with a phishing attempt or an error that happens at the user level, training your employees in cybersecurity will go a long way toward mitigating your risk for an attack.
There are many ways to approach training — and many economical solutions that cost less than $100 per employee. Here’s what the experts recommend:
- Train employees to abide by basic security principles. Establish basic security practices, such as using strong passwords, maintaining appropriate internet use, and handling customer information and data with care.
- Build a security consciousness. Consider using internal phishing simulations to teach people how to spot common signs of an attack.
- Invest in a stock test package. Similar to the simulation tool, this training will teach employees how to spot email scams and to evaluate whether a link is suspicious.
- Crosstrain employees. Give employees the opportunity to shadow IT personnel so you can build a team of unofficial deputy IT managers. This also creates more redundancy in your security by spreading out responsibility.
- Communicate why security matters. Help your employees understand why this training is important and what’s at stake for the company. Get past legal language and make it personal.
- Hire a fractional CIO. If you’re on a budget, use a fractional (contract or third-party service provider) model to get IT experts when you need them.
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