Training employees in cybersecurity and how to spot and prevent threats is something every business should do at least once a year, if not more.
After all, if your business experiences a security breach, you’ll be hit with downtime, fees for security fixes, a dip in funds, and a loss in trust and credibility among customers and business partners.
In this post, I share tips on how to train your employees in cybersecurity so you can prevent these types of threats from affecting your business.
How to Train Employees On Cybersecurity
1. Test Your Staff’s Current Knowledge in Cybersecurity
An assessment can tell you exactly which areas of security your employees need training in and which areas you can potentially skip or gloss over.
For example, a lot of employees likely know the risks of clicking links in emails that look spammy, so you may not need to spend as much time teaching them about this security risk.
Create a short quiz that tests your employees’ knowledge about device security, password security, session hijacking and specific scenarios.
Include questions about what your employees should do in the event of a potential security breach.
This will let you know if your employees know what to do if they suspect their accounts or devices have been compromised or if they know how to handle potential security risks.
2. Establish Cybersecurity Policies
Before you attempt to teach your employees about cybersecurity, establish policies that define strict rules for how your organization handles different aspects about cybersecurity.
These aspects include:
- Password security
- Device security
- Email security
- File security
Define rules for each aspect, such as using a business password manager to generate and store secure passwords, backing up data, and not using work devices for personal internet browsing.
Having all of this figured out beforehand will help you educate your employees more effectively.
Incident Response
Plan how you want your organization to handle real-time threats. This might include hiring an IT tech or outsourcing one to have on call.
If so, your incident response plan can be as simple as having your employee contact your IT tech as soon as they think their device or account has been compromised.
3. Create Documentation for Employees
All organizations should have documentation that’s easily accessible for all employees to read. Common use cases include HR case summaries, manuals on how to use software and equipment, and project notes.
In regards to cybersecurity, internal documentation can be used to create guides employees can reference whenever they have questions, including questions about cybersecurity.
Create a document for every cybersecurity process you want your employees to follow.
Consider using HR software to create and store internal documentation. However, Google Docs and Dropbox work just as good as do private pages on your website.
4. Hand Out Work Devices
Endpoint security is a common cybersecurity problem.
Because regular internet browsing can lead to security breaches through email phishing attempts and malicious file downloads, things get even riskier when you mix business with pleasure by using work devices for personal internet browsing and vice versa.
Mitigate this risk by handing out a dedicated work device for each employee who works for you.
Related: Top Encryption Software Solutions to Safeguard Your Data
5. Educate Employees On Device Security
Teach employees how malware can infect devices, including through bad emails, sketchy websites and malicious files. Your firewall and antivirus software can only do so much.
Teach employees about the importance of using a secure passcode or pattern or even their fingerprint. Make sure they know not to log into personal accounts or browse non-work related websites on work devices.
Teach employees how to show hidden files (to spot executable malware files that disguise themselves as other file types), how to recognize a potentially infected system (such as spotting a new application they didn’t install themselves), and why they should always lock devices, even if they only plan on stepping away from them for a short period.
6. Teach Employees About Network Security
Network security is mostly your organization’s responsibility, but there are a few things you can do to prevent employee activity from impacting your network.
For starters, you can forbid employees from connecting personal devices to your business’ WiFi. Add a guest WiFi connection to your network instead.
You can also insist on employees using secure passwords and teach them who to contact if they notice any network issues, such as not being able to log into an account.
7. Train Employees On Password Security
Passwords are a common entry point for attacks. If a hacker knows your username or email address, all they need is your password in order to gain access to your account.
The harder your password is to guess, the harder it’ll be to crack.
Teach employees how to generate secure passwords for their accounts. Make sure they’re aware about the importance of using unique passwords for each account they manage.
Also, teach them about password managers and why they shouldn’t write passwords down.
Related
- Complete Guide to Strong Passwords and Authentication
- Cracking Down On Credential Theft: Advanced Protection for Your Business Logins
8. Use a Business Password Manager
Consider using a business password manager your employees can use to store their user accounts in. This way, they’ll have a way to generate secure passwords on the fly as well as a secure location to store them in.
You can emphasize the importance of password managers all you want, but if your employees can’t access one easily, they’ll be less likely to.
Take the hassle of picking out and setting up a password manager for employees by setting one up for your entire organization.
NordPass, Keeper Security, 1Password, Dashlane and Bitwarden are all great options.
9. Emphasize the Importance of Multifactor Authentication
Multifactor authentication (MFA) is a step up from two-step authentication that protects your accounts through multiple authentication methods rather than just two.
Authentication methods may include a password, a phone number, a fingerprint, a secondary email address or a code generated by an authenticator app.
Have employees set up multiple authentication methods for every account they use to access your network. This includes business email accounts and accounts used to access your cloud storage solution.
Have them use an authenticator app if the option is available. Otherwise, have them set up all authentication methods the application or website they’re accessing allows.
10. Teach Employees How to Spot Phishing Attempts
Phishing attempts primarily happen through email, but they can also happen over the phone or on websites you visit.
Regardless of where they occur, teach your employees how to recognize a phishing attempt and what to do when they spot one.
Teach them about email spoofing, especially email addresses and links that look legit.
Also, make sure they know how your organization handles certain processes, including choosing new suppliers, buying products and finding potential business partners.
If your business doesn’t rely on cold emails or phone calls for any of these processes, your employees should be advised to delete or ignore such emails or phone calls.
11. Teach Employees About Cooking Hijacking
Cookie hijacking, or session hijacking, is a security threat in which malware infects your system in a way that allows the attacker to steal cookie sessions in your browser.
This allows an attacker to access accounts you’re logged in without the usual login methods, such as a username, password and MFA methods.
Practicing safe device, network and browser security does a lot to prevent cookie hijacking, but you should also teach employees to clear their cache and log out of devices often.
12. Make Sure Employees Know How to Back Up Their Data
Security threats have the potential to corrupt or delete files. However, with proper storage practices, a security breach that impacts your file system should only be a headache, leading to an afternoon of copying and transferring files from remote storage to local storage.
The idea is to avoid a catastrophic loss that impacts projects, business partners, customers and revenue.
Mitigate this risk by setting up multiple secure storage solutions for your employees, including a local storage solution and a remote storage solution.
Make sure employees know how to access each securely, and teach them the importance of backing up their data to each on a regular basis.
Related
- Ultimate Guide to Safe Cloud Storage
- What is an Offsite Backup? + Tips and Solutions
- Microsoft Azure vs AWS: How to Choose the Right Cloud Platform
13. Emphasize the Dangers of Forgoing Security for Convenience
Productivity in the workplace is a common issue. Employers often expect too much out of employees, leading employees to cut corners in order to meet project deadlines or specified quotas.
One corner employees might cut are security protocols that eat at productivity, such as logging out of devices everyday, using MFA methods to log in, using an insecure password that’s easy to remember and backing up data.
Practices like these might be convenient for your employee, but they’re huge security risks for your organization.
Teach employees that proper security protocols should not be sidelined for the sake of convenience.
