Security Awareness: 5 Great Benefits of Educating Employees About IT

Do your employees know how to handle an IT security threat?

Your business is only as secure as your cybersecurity plan, and how well everyone follows it. It only takes one employee to make a mistake and your business could be under attack.

Read on for these 5 benefits of security awareness in your employees to keep your business safe.

1. Reduces the Chance of Human Errors

In most cases, breaches occur due to human error, or being an employee was careless. No one is perfect, of course, but this is why security training is so important.

Phishing emails, for example, contain links or files that hold malware. If an employee opens the files or clicks the links, it’ll download that malware to their machine.

Once on the device, the malware opens you up to hacking, cyber attacks, or information theft. The best line of defense against this is employee education to build confidence. Teach them what common scams look like, not to click on suspicious links/files, and what to do with emails they get.

2. Protects Your Assets

Security breaches damage your reputation and put your assets at risk. It can take a lot of time (and money) to recover from a cyber attack. It’s not always easy to get business back to normal.

Having a comprehensive employee security training program can prevent this. It helps you stay proactive, and avoid a costly disaster before it can happen.

3. Develops an Office Culture of Security

Offering staff training shows you want them to understand how important this is. It helps them take cybersecurity (something they likely know little about) as a serious issue.

Regular, up-to-date training can also help them develop better online habits. They’ll be thinking more about cybersecurity and their role in preventing it.

As time goes on, you should see a security-focused office culture emerge. They’ll want to protect the company as much as you do once they know what’s at stake.

4. Keeps You Compliant 

There are many regulations a business has to adhere to that most employees don’t know. Or even think about. Staff training can help explain it to them, and how your employees can remain compliant.

It’s a business-wide effort to stay compliant, and your employees need to know what their role is. The training shows them and explains the consequences for your business if they fail.

5. Brings You Peace of Mind

With security awareness training, you get peace of mind your staff knows how to handle threats. Companies that don’t have a coherent, clear security plan are more at risk. And this plan needs to be the same across the whole company.

By putting this in place, you don’t need to worry that you’re at unnecessary risk. You’ve done what you can, remained compliant and that should bring you peace of mind. You’ve set your business up to be as safe against cyber attacks as best you can.

Security Awareness Made Easy

So, there you have it! Now you know these 5 benefits of security awareness, what are you waiting for?

Make sure your employees have the knowledge they need to help protect your business. Not everyone is tech-savvy and knows what’s at stake. It’s important to educate and empower your workforce and watch them rally behind you when you do.

If you want to take the stress away from cybersecurity and staff training, contact us today. At Pegasus Technologies, we have the knowledge and skill to meet all your IT security needs.

Pegasus Technologies is the IT Team for organizations that don’t need a full-time IT department. Our technology experts build you a technology plan to keep your business running at its best. We have offices in Kennett Square, PA, Media, PA, and Wayne, PA to provide better computer support and IT services to you.