Cyberattacks have become a constant problem for businesses of all sizes. Hackers cast their net far and wide, targeting all types of businesses as they look for weaknesses that they can expose and profit from.
Even small businesses are at risk because hackers often believe that they will have less sophisticated security systems in place and will therefore be an easier target.
As such, every organisation needs to be very vigilant about the threat of cyberattacks and have the right systems and other security measures in place to protect their business. But how do you improve cybersecurity knowledge in your workplace?
Training. Why? Because 90% of breaches occur as a result of human error?
That’s why employee cyber awareness training and ongoing education is crucial to keeping businesses protected from the growing number of cyberattack threats.
The key areas that employees should be educated on are:
Data protection
Employees need to know how they can protect data and prevent data breaches. This involves a wide range of actions such as choosing strong passwords and not giving out data to unsolicited emails, calls, texts or any other channels.
The danger of links and popups
Pop-ups and links within emails and text messages are a big danger and employees often fall for scams that put data at risk. Employees need to learn how to identify the risks and report them using the correct process.
Using secure Wi-Fi
With an increasing number of people working from home, or at other places away from the workplace, there are more opportunities for hackers, as some employees will access company systems using Wi-Fi with weak security. Having a firewall for the company network offers some protection for businesses, but employees working home accessing systems that store data also need a firewall for protection.
Keeping security software up to date
When system updates become available, it is important to update them as soon as possible as this helps to keep them secure. Anti-virus and anti-malware protection have regular updates to enable them to protect against new cyber threats.
What to do if there is a data breach
If your business has a data breach, there are a number of consequences that could cause significant problems for your company. Firstly, the financial impact of a data breach can be severe. Under GDPR you can be fined up to 4% of annual global turnover (or €20million – whichever is greater). On top of this, you may need to pay compensation to the people affected by the data breach.
You might also have significant legal fees to pay, so it can be financially crippling to many businesses. The other problem is the reputational damage caused by a breach and the loss of trust from customers. This can cause you to lose existing customers and will also put potential customers off using your business due to the bad publicity surrounding the data breach.
Even if you completely overhaul your security measures, it takes a long time to rebuild trust and improve your business reputation.
All of which is to say that effectively training your team to act appropriately and promptly at the first signs of a data breach is utterly essential.
How to prevent a data breach
Making sure that your employees stay up to date with the cybersecurity measures they need to take is vital in preventing a data breach.
Across three products, Bob’s Business offers comprehensive online training packages covering all aspects of data protection and many other critical compliance subjects. With over 55 courses covering cybersecurity awareness and compliance topics, as well as award-winning simulated phishing training, we make reducing your risk of breach simple.