Why is Cybersecurity in the Workplace Everyone’s Responsibility?

When it comes to cybersecurity in the workplace, everyone is responsible. Everyone in an organization is at risk. Not one person is excluded from that list, regardless of how careful or well-educated they are on the latest issues affecting cybersecurity.

Companies can no longer rely on their IT departments and antivirus tech to keep their employees safe from potential threats. When it comes to cybersecurity, human beings are often thought of as the weakest link, and this link must be addressed for successful cybersecurity programs.

Cybersecurity in the Workplace: Everyone’s Responsibility

Employees within an organization are typically connected to an internal network and the internet. So, when one machine or workstation is exposed to a threat, all computers on the network have the potential to be impacted as well.

New technologies like IoT (Internet of Things) have increased the risk factor considerably. Statista shows that 32% of companies that have adopted IoT concede data security issues related to lack of skilled personnel as one of their greatest concerns.

Suppose individuals within the company are educated on best practices. In that case, they are less likely to open suspicious emails or engage in other activities that could result in data breaches, phishing, viruses, and other threats.

Technology is Not Enough

The conventional advice of installing firewalls and antivirus software, keeping your operating systems up to date, using secure passwords, and other tactics is prudent if not essential. But even the best technology can’t prevent all attacks.

Any one of your employees, business associates, or virtually anyone utilizing a computer on your network can open the doors to potential security threats. Stanford University researchers even found that 88% of security breaches had an element of human error, and employees were unwilling to admit when they made a mistake.

The only way forward is a mixed approach. Cutting-edge technology paired with the awareness and education of employees is essential to cybersecurity optimization.

How to Achieve Cybersecurity for Employees?

Teams must be educated on cybersecurity best practices for employees. There may be some pushback in your organization, and this is understandable. After all, cybersecurity often isn’t a part of one’s job description unless they are part of the IT department.

But full cooperation from all departments is required to ensure maximum security. So, organizations need to consider how to enroll their team in doing the right things and avoiding the wrong ones.

Here are several ways to encourage more engagement and participation from your team:

• Gamification: Game-like mechanics like avatars, badges, rewards, leader boards, and so on can make cybersecurity more fun and interactive.
• Incentivization: Rewarding employees for getting involved in cybersecurity is effective in various scenarios. There may be a cost to incentivization, but according to Solvere One, the cost of cyberattacks on enterprises can be as high as $2 million. It’s probably cheaper to incentivize your employees than leave vulnerabilities unaddressed.
• Cybersecurity champions: The active promotion of cybersecurity in your organization by selecting individuals who know the ins and outs can help ensure greater success with your cybersecurity measures.
• Security-oriented culture: Micro initiatives can help protect your enterprise, but sometimes it’s important to examine the company from a macro level and make security part of its overall culture.

Continuous Security Validation & Other Technologies

Bringing your organization up to date on cybersecurity best practices is worthwhile and even critical, but that doesn’t mean you can’t, or shouldn’t, take advantage of cutting-edge technologies to protect your company as well. Quite to the contrary, both are important.

Implementing continuous security validation with Indusface WAS or other similar measures that continuously and ongoingly scan for potential threats is a great way to get on the offensive instead of relying exclusively on lengthy annual check-ups or, worse, sitting by and doing nothing.

Continuous security validation helps you put your finger on the pulse of potential vulnerabilities so you can address them ongoingly. If you’re not continually evaluating your security, there’s no way to know where you’re vulnerable or what to do about it.

Conclusion

To ensure the effectiveness of your workplace cybersecurity, you need a plan. But the plan alone is not enough to handle the fast-changing and adapting world of hackers and viruses. Your plan must be agile and workable, even when your IT department isn’t around to deal with pressing concerns because attacks don’t always happen when it’s convenient.

Thus, cybersecurity in the workplace is everyone’s responsibility. And you must make it a part of your company culture to ensure ongoing protection and safety.

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