Human Firewalls: The New Age of Cyber-Security
Five Billion. That’s the predicted damage costs of global ransomware; a 15x increase in two years. How secure is your enterprise?
At this point in our cyber evolution, it’s clear that any business, regardless of size, is playing with fire if operating without the protection of a cybersecurity protocol. What’s more, human error continues to be the weakest link surrounding cybercrime and security threats. No matter how much a company invests in cybersecurity tools, if employees are not adhering to security guidelines, all could come crashing down in a matter of minutes. According to the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre, understanding how to influence and change cyber behavior among your employees is key to establishing a secure IT ecosystem.
Cyber Security Awareness
This security campaign should be implemented with the idea that cyber-security is no longer an option; it should serve as a core value of your organization’s culture. Both the incident rate and level of sophistication of cyber crimes are increasing at an alarming rate, and best security practices are now a responsibility across all departments in an organization.
There are several key components to designing a successful cyber awareness campaign, and cyber awareness training is your front line defense. However, you should not rely solely on employee training. Habits are hard to change, and a quarterly video on cyber security isn’t going to alter behavior. Other measures that foster a cyber secure awareness must be incorporated into the program:
- Provide cyber-risk scores to review during employee evaluation.
- Create fake phishing sites to test employees; employee must take refresher course if failed.
- Involve Human Resources if cyber security tests are failed repeatedly.
- Use creative incentives for employees who identify real threats or who pass mock phishing tests.
- Place posters, tips, and other reminders across all mediums to drive home message.
What are the Benefits of Security Awareness Training?
- Reduced malware infections
- Reduced data loss
- Reduced cyber-thefts
- Reduced help desk calls
- Reduced cleaning and re-imaging of machines
- Reduced down time
- Increased user productivity
- Increased ROI in time, reputation, and dollars
- Increased security awareness across all users
Whether you use an outsourced tool or you train internally, Cyber Security Awareness is imperative to the health of your IT environment. Don’t underestimate the power of humans.
