Did you know that 90% of data breaches are caused by human error? Cyber-attacks are more likely to occur as a result of employee actions rather than a direct attack to a system.
With human error being the most common reason for cyber-attacks, employers need to take measures to ensure their employees have a strong grip on current cybersecurity threats, risks, and vulnerabilities.
Cybersecurity Threats to Employees
A lack of security knowledge leaves your employees and organization vulnerable. Listed below are some of the more common attacks we see related to uneducated employees.
Phishing Attacks:
Phishing attacks are fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information or data, such as usernames, passwords, or credit card information by disguising oneself as a trustworthy source. All it takes is one employee to click on a phishing email to cause a disastrous nightmare. In many cases, once an employee falls for a phishing scam, their computers become infected with ransomware.
Spear Phishing Attacks:
Spear phishing attacks are sent to specific and researched targets while purporting a trusted sender. Hackers use these targeted attacks to gain pay loads or to steal confidential information. For example: You receive an email from your boss asking for you to transfer money to a certain account. This might be a normal task for you, and thinking nothing of it, you transfer thousands of dollars to malicious actors.
Password Attacks:
Most people are guilty for having weak passwords. Weak passwords include passwords not using unique characters, reused passwords, and short, non-complex passwords. There are many risks associated with having weak passwords. If hackers gain access to your credentials for one site, they then have the information to hack into any other site used with those credentials. This not only leaves personal information vulnerable, but company data as well. We recommend you and your employees implement a password manager. We use 1Password! With a password manager, all you have to remember is one long, unique, and complex password to then have access to all of your saved credentials. It will save you time and keep your credentials safe!
What can be done to educate my employees?
Continuous Cybersecurity Training:
Continuous Cybersecurity Awareness Training is critical for everyone within your organization. Annual and one-and-done trainings are inadequate and do not educate on the current threats we are faced with today. Hackers are becoming smarter each and every day. This leaves employees unaware of the changing threats and risks they face. We recommend a training program giving employees knowledge and awareness on current threats and risks. For example: COVID-19 phishing emails. All it takes is one employee to click on a malicious link in a phishing email for your organization to be breached, if they knew what to look out for beforehand, that breach could have been prevented. Be proactive, not reactive.
Webinars/Virtual Training:
IronTech Security hosts a 30-minute webinar every Tuesday at 2pm Central Time, taking a deeper dive into critical cybersecurity topics. You can register here! Virtual trainings and webinars are an easy way to ensure your employees are up to date on current cybersecurity threats, risks, and vulnerabilities. If your organization is looking for a speaker, let us know! Check out our YouTube page for previous Deeper Dive recordings and mini-cybersecurity training videos.
Are you doing the most to protect your organization? If not, it is time to make some changes. One of the most important things you can do for your organization is making sure your employees are trained and up to date on cybersecurity threats. ALL employees are responsible for company cybersecurity, including management.