How to Train Employees on Cybersecurity

Enduring a security breach can be detrimental to your business, in terms of a potential loss of privacy, leaked data and so much more.

While hackers have become more advanced with changes in technology, however, so too have experts in the cybersecurity field. These days, with the right cybersecurity measures in place, businesses can protect themselves, their employees, their data and their clients from unwanted advances by external parties.

However, as the proverb goes, you’re only as strong as your weakest link, and when it comes to cybersecurity, it’s often a company’s staff that represents that weak link.

Unfortunately, humans pose a significant vulnerability to businesses as a result of the very essence of our humanity. We make judgements based on our opinions and our opinions are based on our perceptions. Sometimes, however, our perceptions can be manipulated, and that’s what leaves us in danger.

Hackers are very much aware of this, and while many forms of cyber attacks focus on infiltrating software and breaking down code, there are also several schemes that specifically target companies’ human vulnerabilities.

That is, staff.

Since staff add a great deal of value to businesses, in such a way that tends to make them indispensable (for the most part), it’s not possible to combat this vulnerability by eliminating the problem.

Thus, it’s all about mitigating risk – making employees less vulnerable.

And the only way to do that is to train them.

 

Why Is Staff Training Important? 

 

It goes without saying that employees require training regardless of the company, industry, position or individual in question. The specifics of what the training includes will vary, and different types of training are likely to become necessary at different times, but at the end of the day, teaching your staff and keeping them in the know can be the most effective way to get as much out of them as possible.

Now, training employees for the purpose of performing a specific job is one thing, but there are also other general issues that staff require training for – things that are likely to be relevant to just about everyone, from those in accounting to the sales team.

Human Resources (HR) training sessions are one such example, but another on that is becoming increasingly important is company-wide cybersecurity training.

Conducting effective cybersecurity training is absolutely essential if you want to do everything you can to keep all aspects of your business safe. The more your staff know, the better equipped they’ll be to protect themselves and the important data that they have access to.

Educating employees on what potential hackers may do or say will allow them to potentially detect suspicious activity early before anything bad happens. They’ll be able to alert the appropriate management and potentially stop something bad from happening.

But talking about educating people is one thing, actually implementing it is a different story.

 

A Guide on How to Train Employees on Cybersecurity 

 

The specifics on exactly how you should train staff on cybersecurity issues will differ depending on the company, industry, country and plenty of other factors, but there are some general tips that are applicable across the board.

Here are some top tips to train your staff on cybersecurity issues for both prevention and how to deal with security breaches.

 

Establish a Firm Cybersecurity Policy

 

The best way to get people to follow rules is to tell them, in no uncertain way, what they are. Having a black-and-white cybersecurity policy means that your employees will have something to look back on if they’re ever sceptical without needing to reach out to a colleague or manager.

This means that company management needs to take the time to sit down and create a cybersecurity policy that is tailored to your business’s needs. In some cases, it can be useful to bring in an expert if you’re not totally clear on how cybersecurity works or what software would best suit your purposes.

Once you’ve created the policy, go through it with your staff and encourage engagement and discussion to ensure that everybody is on the same page.

 

 

Teach Your Staff About General Cybersecurity

 

Creating a policy and training your staff is one thing, but specific policy training won’t go very far if employees don’t already have a good understanding of cybersecurity in general.

So, take the time to teach them. That means talking about what cybersecurity is, how it works and why it’s important. Highlight the ways in which prevention is better than cure and how employees specifically may be targeted by cybercriminals.

At the end of the day, knowledge is power, after all.

 

Keep Up to Date and Run Regular Training Programmes

 

Normally, the idea of ever-changing and constantly improving technology is exciting, but in the world of cyberattacks and criminal activity, it can mean that individuals with nefarious intentions are getting smarter and are finding better ways to do bad things.

Of course, this goes hand in hand with cybersecurity experts’ ability to dealt with these risks, but ultimately, it means that the industry is constantly changing and evolving.

Just because your staff do completed cybersecurity training at the beginning of the year doesn’t mean they never have to do it ever again. In reality, it’s necessary to conduct regular training sessions, including updates on the industry, changes in protocols and updates in the software.

From the business’s perspective, it’s necessary to make sure you’re keeping up to date and in touch with any and all changes and teaching your staff what you’ve learned.

 

Encourage Constant Monitoring of Devices

 

When it comes it cybersecurity risks, it tends to be the devices that employees use that make them vulnerable, because that’s how cybercriminals are able to make contact and potentially gain access to them and their data.

Luckily, there are ways to keep devices secure, it just requires constant awareness. On the one hand, this means ensuring that antivirus software is always up to date.

But the other thing that creates a significant vulnerability for companies’ cybersecurity is lost and stolen hardware. If an employee’s laptop is stolen, for instance, a criminal may be able to access not only their personal accounts, but business accounts and company logins too. So employees need to be aware that if they ever lose or misplace their work-related hardware, it’s important to make management aware.

 

Use Online Courses 

 

You may need to pay for access to them, but there are plenty of organisations and agencies that have created great online courses that are specifically designed to teach staff about cybersecurity. They’re often available with varying focuses for different industries, so you should be able to fid one that’s appropriate for your company.

This may seem like a bit of an expense upfront, but it has the potential to protect your company, your staff and your clients, so it’s likely to actually save you money in the long run.

 

Teach Employees What to Look Out For

 

In addition to more in-depth cybersecurity training, one of the most important things you can do is constantly emphasise the most obvious warning signs that something may be wrong. This could include:

 

• Your device randomly slowing down
• Sudden appearance of new, never-before-seen pop-up adverts
• Strange pop-ups during ordinary use before shutting down
• Loss of control of the mouse, keyboard or other functions
• Appearance of new extensions in your browser

 

These things may not be a massive reason to be alarmed, but it’s always better to be safe rather than sorry, so encourage your staff to speak up if they notice anything unusual.

 

Emphasise the Importance of Privacy

 

Make sure that staff are fully aware of how important confidentiality is – in terms of company data, password protection and more. You can do this by means of ordinary reminders, as well as a policy that requires regular password changing.

A few other things you can teach employees include:

 

• How to create a strong password
• How VPNs work
• Why you shouldn’t use a universal password

 

They may seem like small things, but they always help.

 

Backup Important Data 

 

Backing up important data is always a good idea and a lot of the time, it’ll be up your employees to actually take care of this, so make sure that you emphasise the importance of backup data.

Some specific tips for backing up data include:

 

• Using cloud-based storage to backup data
• To conduct regular backing up of data
• Set up automatic backups
• Encourage staff to periodically check backup files