While every organization has its own cybersecurity budget, one study found that financial organizations spend about 10.9 percent of their IT budget on cybersecurity, including spending on data security. This amount equates to about $2,700 on average per employee.
But one of your organization’s biggest threats to the safety of its data isn’t a malicious cyberactor; it is your colleague down the hall or your coworker on the other side of your video teleconference.
"Just like building a fortress but leaving the front door unlocked."
While they may not always have malicious intent, employees are actually involved in a significant number of data breaches, leading to identity theft or the exposure of sensitive customer or corporate information. In fact, according to a recent Verizon report, more than 30 percent of breaches were the work of insiders, while 82 percent involved a human element in some way.
So, what cybersecurity safety measures can your organization put into place to help keep your organization, customers, and employees safe?
This article helps to explain the role that employees play in keeping your organization secure and the key cybersafety steps each of your employees should be prepared to take.
Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to gain access to sensitive information or critical infrastructure, either to make a profit or to interrupt business operations.
Unfortunately, these criminals have found that one of the easiest ways to gain the access they need to perform their attack is to target those who already have the access that they desire: an organization’s own employees.
Without having to use a brute-force attack to crack passwords or find unique vulnerabilities that bypass security controls, criminals can just trick an employee or misuse their access to get to the data that they want.
Whether it is failing to revoke a past employee’s access or one of your teammates thoughtlessly clicking a link in a phishing email, insiders can truly be the strongest or weakest link in your cybersecurity chain.
While cybercriminals are carrying out increasingly complex and complicated attacks, when it comes to your organization’s cybersecurity, some of the most powerful controls are actually some of the most simple to implement.
Here are some of the key fundamentals every employee in your organization should understand in order to protect your data:
Your employees are on the front lines when it comes to protecting your organization’s assets, data, and customers. They are the ones with access to sensitive information and the credentials cybercriminals are after.
This is why it is important to educate and encourage your employees to embrace a proactive cybersecurity mindset to notice when suspicious activity, messages, and actors arise during their work. In particular, give your employees the signs of phishing and social engineering attacks that they can be on the lookout for and teach them how to notify your security team when it does occur.
Because you never know who may be around an employee’s workspace, employees should ensure that they do not leave out or share sensitive information such as passwords, personally identifiable information, and account information that can be used to facilitate cyberattacks.
Consider taking your security measures one step further by implementing multifactor authentication, identity management, and device management tools that make it harder for malicious actors to take advantage of insecure devices without increasing the burden on employees.
The experts at VectorUSA have the industry and technical expertise to help identify, implement, and manage the security platforms that fit best with an organization’s risk profile and operations. VectorUSA can also offer 24/7/365 monitoring of your enterprise environment via our Security Operations Center, which is always vigilantly watching for malicious activity.
Your employees can safely access network devices and internet sites within your office space, but when your team is working remotely, they could be left with far less secure options.
Put a policy in place and educate your staff on the need to only access organizational networks and data while using secured internet connections provided by a trusted internet service provider or entity. Your organization could also decide to offer mobile hotspots to employees if internet options are limited or provide access to a commercial or internal VPN service to create secure network tunnels to enterprise assets.
By giving your employees the right knowledge and tools, your organization can greatly increase the effectiveness of your cybersecurity controls and drastically reduce the risk of falling victim to a costly data breach.
That’s where having access to VectorUSA’s decades of experience and deep bench of cybersecurity experts can be a real differentiator when it comes to securing your organization and staying ahead of tomorrow’s cyberthreats. No matter where your organization is on the cybersecurity maturity curve or on its journey to obtaining compliance certification, VectorUSA knows what it takes to proactively protect your enterprise data.
Want to learn more about the latest in cybersecurity services, best practices, and trends? Then take a moment to check out our latest resource, Cybersecurity Trends and Threats: 5 Key Areas To Stay Ahead Of.