Train Your Employees in Cybersecurity

A hacker attack is one of those things you just don’t think about, let alone worry about until it actually happens to you. But when it does happen, the results can be catastrophic—not just for you personally, but for your entire business.

Indeed, a cybersecurity issue at your workplace could lead to the loss of proprietary data; to lost productivity due to malfunctioning technology; and, worst of all, to potential compliance or customer service debacles.

As such, it’s critical to train your team members on the best practices for online security—but how?

Training Your Employees to Practice Online Security

• Make sure your employees understand what’s at stake. Let them know of any potential regulatory issues, of the effect a data breach could have on clients, and of how cybersecurity problems could ultimately hurt the bottom line.
• Create a structure through which employees can report cybersecurity—that is, computer viruses and the like—not just to their manager, but to the IT team as well.
• Educate your entire workforce on the best ways to create strong, secure passwords and send out periodic reminders for everyone in the company to reset their passwords.
• Create guidelines for unauthorized software installations. You may not have a problem with employees using something like Spotify or Skype, but you don’t want them downloading software from unknown or untrustworthy sources. A list of approved installations may be the best approach.
• Brief your team members on when they should or shouldn’t access links, and on the telltale signs of suspicious emails. Let them know that malicious software often comes in obviously “spammy” emails, and the only links that should be clicked on are ones sent from trusted sources.
• Have a policy in place for employees using social media and, in particular, for using company email addresses to create social media accounts.
• Let your employees know to safeguard their computers—both by password protecting them and by storing them in safe, preferably locked

Now, some of this may require you to invest in some cybersecurity training yourself. It may be worthwhile to hold a company-wide security seminar. Talk to your IT provider about conducting one, or else reach out to an outside consulting firm to come lead the way.

By all means, though, take action soon; cybersecurity is far too important to leave up to chance.