Your biggest asset is your people.
But when it comes to the health of your technology, your biggest internal threat to the security of your company’s IT network are those same imperfect humans.
We’re talking about human error.
Before we get too deep, please understand that no one is perfect. However, there are specific things that you CAN do to protect your IT network and mitigate security risks to your business.
Human error occurs when an individual performs a task with an unintended outcome.
And often an unintended consequence, too.
It’s easy to point the finger at employee’s as being an organization’s weakest link when it comes to security technology awareness, but without appropriate training provided by you, how can employees truly know what to watch out for?
An IBM study found that human error accounts for 95% of security incidents, yet security awareness training for employees often ends up on the back burner.
Here’s what technology experts learned from a recent survey about Cybersecurity:
- Cybersecurity training is not a top priority for many businesses.
- 3% of employees felt their employer provided them with absolutely no Cybersecurity training.
- Only 17.9% of survey respondents felt their employers were providing them with “adequate” cybersecurity training.
There’s a need for more security training. (that means you)
Since Cybersecurity incidents are often a result of employee mistakes, its apparent that technology alone is not enough to protect an organization.
While managed antivirus may have previously found success in offering virus protection alone, the realization that employees are an organization’s weakest link has led many vendors to one conclusion: to be successful and provide services that can truly defend against cybercrime, providing education through security awareness training is key.
Educating employees on security awareness is crucial to organizations, especially those with sensitive data. Cybercriminals are relentless in their efforts to carry out their attacks, and many organizations are slowly recognizing that these criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their attempts.
Criminals have become masterminds at forming social engineering attacks to trick their victims.
In addition, fierce competition, and the desire to generate more revenue could be contributing factors.
We must not forget that without appropriate training provided by organizations, employees cannot effectively act as that first layer of defense.
And, how can we as business leaders hold our employees and team members accountable to a standard that’s not been communicated?
One thing we’re certain of: Security awareness training will help your employees spot malicious attempts by cybercriminals, but it is also required to comply with federal and in some cases state regulations. A lack of training will open the door for cybercriminals and may result in a breach, causing significant fines and penalties as well as likely damage to an organization’s reputation.
Good security for your business starts with teaching and training your staff on what to be aware of and avoid. Need help teaching your employees the importance of cybersecurity? Click here to get started.