Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting private companies in hopes of easy access. Even basic oversights, such as leaving a laptop unattended or opening a spam email, could lead to a cyber attack and ultimately cause a financial loss for your company.
Having the right technology in place to prevent such attacks is a must. However, you should also provide basic training to employees, as they are a critical line of defense against cyber attacks. Here are five topics to cover.
- Phishing and Spam
Hackers are coming up with increasingly clever scams using fake emails to try and gain access to your company’s network or employee information. Train your employees to spot these phishing attempts and to alert IT to any suspicious emails. You can even purchase phishing simulator training tools to test your employees’ awareness. The results will show what additional training and education may be needed.
- Strong Passwords
Between work and personal use, it seems like we all have a million passwords to remember. To combat this, employees may be tempted to create an easy password used for multiple purposes. Train employees on the importance of using strong passwords and ways to secure where they store that information.
- Reporting Problems
Employees may be hesitant to notify IT if they accidently clicked on something they shouldn't have. Or, they may not realize the risks involved with losing a flash drive with sensitive information. Take the time to educate employees and make sure they are comfortable reporting any, and all, security threats.
- Public Wi-Fi
With the increase in workplace mobility comes an increase in usage of public Wi-Fi. While convenient, Wi-Fi in coffee shops, airports, hotels and elsewhere may not be secure. Educate employees on how to identify secure website and how to connect through a virtual private network (VPN).
- Social Media
For starters, if you don’t have a social media policy in place, it’s time to implement one. Social media is ripe with hackers looking to elicit information from individuals. Just one click on a post that appears harmless could inadvertently spread malware. Educate employees on acceptable use of social media and have monitoring practices in place to minimize the risks.
It’s a good idea to continue to provide employees with ongoing training and information updates to keep IT security top of mind.
Do you have questions about your IT security? Give us a call to see how we can help.