Human error is the leading cause of data breaches and cybercrime, and it’s not close.
Cybersecurity awareness is one of the most important traits to look for when screening potential new hires. Any employee with access to proprietary or customer information must protect it.
Cybersecurity training for employees is as important as training any other function of their job. If a business closes due to a cyber-attack, there will be no tasks for employees to handle in the first place.
If you do not know that your workforce is up to date on cybersecurity standards, it is time to get moving. Consider your IT security environment and whether you need help educating your team.
It is on organizations to ensure that their employees have trained on cybersecurity best practices, not the other way around. Simple cybersecurity awareness training is not enough.
Employees need hands-on training. Sometimes they must experience failure first-hand to change risky behavior.
A 2019 study by IBM reported that 95% of IT security breaches are the result of human error. The result: losses of $3.92 million on average.
What is Cybersecurity Training for Employees?
Cybersecurity training is not only for beginners. Even the most tech-savvy need occasional training. Technology, cyber threats, and vulnerabilities all change quickly.
The goal of cybersecurity training is to teach your team how to secure your company’s most important data. When completed, employees should be able to understand what is at risk, where issues arise.
They should also be capable of identifying risks, as well as a successful response.
Required training combats many kinds of attacks. But in time, new types of attacks develop, and thus new kinds of training become necessary.
Cybersecurity programs should be ongoing within a company. Developing new knowledge is as important as retaining previous knowledge.
Awareness is only half the battle of cybersecurity training. It is one thing to be on the lookout for cyber threats, but it is another thing to know how to see them and snuff them out.
That is why true cybersecurity training includes both education and “live fire” attacks. Live fire attacks imitate different cyberattacks, including everything but the actual consequences.
This forces employees to identify attacks and defend against attacks.
Why Cybersecurity training is important: Costs of a data breach and the human element
A data breach releases key information to the public. Worse, they divulge personal information like customer social security numbers and bank information.
Losing customer information comes with an almost insurmountable knock against your reputation. You are likely to never regain the customers you lose.
The financial repercussions don’t end there. Any governing compliance body may levy more fines against your business.
Compliance-specific training is integral to understanding what employees must do to meet industry standards. Many training offerings, offer many programs tailored to numerous, common compliance standards.
Any company that handles data should deploy annual cybersecurity training. That includes customers’ personal data or any proprietary data.
Consider the staggering losses combined with how often user error leads to a breach. The need for cybersecurity training becomes abundantly clear.
These numbers apply to ALL businesses, not only enterprise companies.
Having employees who will not put you at risk of a data breach will limit your risk of financial ruin.
Biggest Cybersecurity Threats for Employees
Cyber attacks come from many different avenues. Some attacks are more common than others, but those that are rare can also be more complex and convincing.
So what are the most common types of attacks that target employees?
Phishing
“A technique for attempting to acquire sensitive data, such as bank account numbers, through a fraudulent solicitation in email or on a website, in which the perpetrator masquerades as a legitimate business or reputable person.”
The most common cyberattacks on employees are phishing attacks.
These aim to gather credentials that allow attackers to easily infiltrate your system. Attackers often gather credentials by impersonating individuals inside or outside your company.
Phishing begins by delivery through email 91% of the time. Malicious links are also delivered through social media. 62% of phishing simulations capture at least one user’s credentials.
Social Engineering
Not all cyberattacks start virtually. Some start offline and transition online once they establish an entryway. That said, social engineering can also happen online as well.
Social engineering is a form of attack that relies heavily on human interaction. Most often attackers manipulate victims to gain otherwise unauthorized access.
Attackers conceal their identities and portray themselves as being trustworthy or authoritative.
Social engineering can be easier than hacking a system directly. That is because of the prevalence of human error in allowing cyberattacks. One click or one door can make all the difference.
What is the primary countermeasure?
The answer to counteracting social engineering is – you guessed it – cybersecurity training.
That said, there are other concrete steps you can take to thwart social engineering. By maintaining simple cyber hygiene, break-ins become difficult. Make sure to always secure valuable hardware and information
The biggest defense here is authorization and authentication control. Limit who can access certain information or areas. Doing so provides fewer possible avenues for bad actors to reach their target.
Even if you trust your employees, there is no added benefit to giving everyone access to financial or personal information. Only those who need information for work purposes should be able to access it.
Additionally, keep a secondary Wi-Fi network for visitors. This will keep unwanted users from your company network.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a malware attack that encrypts a user’s files until they make a payment to unencrypt them.
The attacker will threaten to delete the files or release private information found unless the victim pays the ransom.
Many cases exist where ransomware has extorted inordinate sums of money from companies.
In July 2021, IT solutions developer Kaseya was targeted in an attack that preyed on a vulnerability in their software. Earlier in 2021, cybercriminals shut down a United States fuel pipeline in the DarkSide attack.
One of the largest ransomware attacks was the WannaCry attack in 2017. WannaCry’s targets included the United Kingdom’s National Health Service.
Other ransomware groups are REvil and Conti. Some software exists specifically for ransomware, like Ryuk, which targets large-scale companies.
See more on the Australian Cyber Security Centre, Ransomware | Cyber.gov.au or contact us to find out more.