How to Make Your Employees Care about Cyber Security

July 3, 2017

Cyber security is something that all business owners need to be concerned with today. It seems that a day doesn’t go by at the moment without news of another breach. However, while you may care about the security of your business, getting your employees to care is another matter entirely. It can be difficult, but it is something you need to achieve, especially when a large number of breaches arise due to employee error. So, how can you ensure your employees care about cyber security at your business?

Encourage sharing – Create an environment whereby employees are encouraged to raise the alarm if they receive a potential phishing email or malicious attachment. Ensure there are communication procedures in place should the worst happen.

Provide continuous training – Cyber security training should be available to all employees throughout the year, at all levels of your business. Moreover, the training provided should be specific to each worker’s job. This is something an IT consultancy firm like CyberJaz can assist with. They will be able to tailor the training to suit the individual in question. For instance, for workers involved in IT, the attacks can be a lot more complex and technical in nature, and so they need to have an in-depth understanding of the threat landscape. For end users, the consultants will provide them with knowledge regarding the likes of attacks on their email and social media.

Appoint cyber security culture advocates – It is important to have cyber security culture advocates in place in every department. This will ensure that everyone is motivated and that standards do not slip. They can monitor all employees to ensure they are using and storing data correctly and that they are changing their passwords every few months.

Create a formal plan and policy – You need to develop a formal, documented plan for cyber security training, and you need to ensure this plan is reviewed and updated on a regular basis. You should distribute an employee cyber security policy that outlines everything from safe browsing to access parameters.

Make the message stick – You need to keep preaching the gospel with regards to cyber security until it becomes second nature. Education is key, as mentioned above, but this goes way beyond a training session. Here are some tips to help you get the message across to your employees:

Promote the theme with follow-up campaigns every three months that stress the importance of cyber security. Send out occasional phony phishing emails to check how your team responds to them to ensure they recognize the threat.
Don’t waste time sending out long emails that are only going to get ignored. Keep it short, and keep it fun.
Start with infographics or a few videos. Your employees are much more likely to respond to this type of content.
Don’t opt for scare tactics. This is the worst thing you can do. If your employees make a mistake, they may be too scared to report it.

If you follow the five tips mentioned above, you can make sure that your employees work together to promote effective cyber security practices at your business.