When it comes to protecting your organisation from cyber attacks, creating a culture of both safety and awareness can be crucial elements. Many business leaders have systems and tools in place to protect their networks, but struggle to get their employees to buy into security policies and best practices. This leaves organisations vulnerable, as employees click on suspicious links or download unapproved software on devices that has hidden malware.
Here are some ways you can positively influence your employees’ cybersecurity behavior:
· Think about how your security interventions impact employees. When working on a security awareness or training program, think about the time and resources it takes. Are you asking employees to spend several hours on top of their workload to take quizzes? Are you firing employees for minor cybersecurity infractions? Striking a balance is important to get buy-in from your team.
· Build a system that can withstand human error. While your employees should be encouraged to follow clear guidelines to protect the organisation’s systems, businesses should implement systems that can handle some degree of human error, as honest mistakes do happen, and you don’t want one error to lead to a devastating cyber attack. Zero trust architecture operates on the basis of continuously authenticating a person’s identity and “trusting no one”, which provides an extra layer of protection.
· Use positive reinforcement to encourage good security behaviors. If someone is intentionally and repeatedly disregarding your company’s cybersecurity rules then more stringent consequences may be appropriate, but organisations will have far better outcomes if IT teams operate empathetically to employee security and technology challenges and congratulate and incentivise those that are closely following guidelines.
If you’re wondering how to engage with your employees and implement strong cybersecurity policies and training, Vertex conducts cybersecurity awareness and employee training programs. Contact us today to learn more about partnering to create a program for your organization.
