Here’s the thing about cybersecurity and network security: even the employees you think know about internet security are not familiar with how it works. Yes, that’s true. A big chunk of your Millennials and Gen Z employees don’t know an iota about cybersecurity and how seriously it can hurt the business. Though many of them will not use the office computer to download movies, songs, and what-not from the internet, that’s as far as they know about it. They are still susceptible to fall for email scams and the like.
Cybersecurity training should be part of the onboarding process of the employees. It should comprise a huge portion of their training. Without it, they will not be aware of the consequences of their actions on the internet. Without this knowledge, employees are going to make the same mistakes over and over again that can put the organization in jeopardy.
But more than anything else, it is the business owner’s responsibility to ensure that proper protocols and safety measures are in place. After all, no matter how efficiently you get your employees trained, if you do not have the right tools, software, and device in place, then that knowledge will amount to nothing. This means upgrading and improving your network security by installing a next-generation firewall Fortinet system.
Company Data
All of your employees should understand the shared responsibility of protecting company data and documents. These documents are not to be taken out of the office. They shouldn’t show them to anyone. That much should be clear to your employees. They must not only protect the data, but they must also respect the company’s privacy and make sure that no other person outside of the people involved in that document can see it.
Notifying the IT Department
Your employees should also be trained in recognizing legitimate warnings that the computer has been jeopardized. If a virus enters the system, they should immediately call the information technology (IT) department so they can address the problems immediately. But warnings are not the only ones to be reported to the IT personnel. Your employees should also recognize unexplained errors and changes in the desktop as something of a warning sign.
Passwords
The most important lesson you can give employees about cybersecurity is creating strong passwords. Far too many people are convinced that hackers cannot guess their birthdays or their dog’s birthday. You are probably right, but hackers don’t need to guess. They use the computer’s language to hack into every system regardless of how strong you think your password is. That’s why stronger passwords—long ones with a combination of letters, numbers, and characters—are harder to decipher because they use the same language design that computers utilize. They can easily hide underneath the encryption.
Set an automated reminder that will tell your employees to change their passwords. This will keep hackers always guessing. If they got into your system once and haven’t noticed, they will try again to see if they can get more information. Changing your passwords regularly will protect against further stealing of your company data.
Unauthorized Software
Most of your employees probably know that they cannot install other software on the office computers. They are aware of the consequences of installing unauthorized programs. However, it still bears mentioning in their training. They have to ask if they can install the software. At the same time, they shouldn’t even think about browsing websites that can attack and corrupt the computer. That’s why they’re already allowed to bring their personal devices to the office so that they can use those instead.
Computer and Internet Use
Train your employees to avoid websites with questionable security certificates. They also shouldn’t use the internet for personal emails or the business email to sign up for newsletters. This will make them susceptible to receiving scam links, which they must avoid at all costs. Businesses need to train employees on how to identify scam email links. A click on this link can lead to viruses infiltrating the whole network. Your employees will end up releasing sensitive information to unscrupulous individuals who will use that information in their criminal activities.
You should always invest in protecting and security your computer systems and networks. You hold very sensitive information about the business, your suppliers, and your customers. Do you want to be responsible not only for your business’ downfall but for your suppliers’ and customers’ as well? Trust in business is hard to come by; it is even harder to re-earn once a business loses it.
