Increasing IT Security Awareness in Your Business

Improving data security within a company is a challenge that senior business executives and IT security professionals are constantly contending with. Technical controls are certainly important in making sure systems are secure, but unfortunately, humans remain the weak link. Users sharing passwords, plugging in virus-infected USB drives, or clicking links to phishing sites are just some of the challenges IT security teams struggle with every day.

Culture change is a crucial factor in having IT controls work as they should and ensuring that security programs are adhered to. However, affecting culture change across an organization can be challenging and takes more than just a PowerPoint presentation with a few bullet points. The key to effective culture change is a robust IT cybersecurity program. The better your staff understands their responsibility to IT security, the fewer data breaches your company is likely to experience.

Here are some real ways you can increase IT security awareness for your company:

• Involve senior management

Typically, we are creatures of habit. In businesses where routine is seen as a way to maintain predictability, stability, and comfort, a cybersecurity program that attempts to change existing culture will run into opposition. The best way to mitigate any resistance is to get senior leadership buy in for the cybersecurity awareness campaign. Engage them through brief, high-impact boardroom presentations. In addition, emphasize how cyberattacks affect the bottom line and highlight the tangible benefits of improving security. The goal is not just to get management to send out an email outlining the importance of the program. It’s also about leading by example when it comes to taking cybersecurity seriously. Once employees begin to realize that leadership as committed to IT security awareness, the entire organization will adopt the new normal.

• Prioritize high-risk groups

An IT cybersecurity program must be adopted company wide. Your security is only as strong as the employee with the least understanding of IT security risks and their responsibility in mitigating threats. Most likely, a cybersecurity program will have a limited budget which means that you have to direct resources to the areas where they will have the greatest impact. Certain departments and employees have a higher-than-average risk profile. For instance, finance, HR, and IT departments are major targets because they are privy to large quantities of sensitive information. Similarly, senior executives are attractive targets due to their high-level authorization across a broad array of confidential company information. If a person in a high-risk department or role falls for a phishing attack, the repercussions could be catastrophic and can result in significant damage to the company’s finances and reputation. Prioritize IT cybersecurity and training programs for these high-risk employees, including tips on preventing or responding to a cyberattack.

• Leverage storytelling

Let’s face it - IT security isn’t the most exciting topic. It can be especially boring for people who are not tech-savvy, and the message can be lost in complex tech speak. While the program may appear sound, it misses the objective if it isn’t driving employees toward adopting positive behavior that protects systems and data. The key is to find ways to make security awareness messages interesting and relatable. Stories are a powerful technique for capturing audience attention and drawing them into the conversation. They create an emotional connection that makes it easier for the reader or listener to remember. Story ideas could be personal anecdotes, internal events, or high-profile news headlines. You can never go wrong with injecting a little humor, just don’t overdo it.

• Prepare employees for a possible data breach

There’s no certainty when the next cyberattack targeting your business will occur, but what is certain is that a single attack could compromise millions of customer and employee files. In the aftermath, closing the loopholes and repairing the organization’s damaged reputation can take up sizable resources. For these reasons, it’s important that you prepare for a data breach beforehand. Your cybersecurity program should include details about what staff are required to do when they know or suspect a data breach has occurred. The response plan should seek to reduce reputational or financial damage, enhance stakeholder confidence, improve organization structures, and enlist staff as assistants in the fight. The cybersecurity program must include test runs of a data breach to determine whether staff remembers their role in a response to an attack.

• Identify your cybersecurity awareness champions

Your company may have an IT team that is responsible for overseeing the implementation of and compliance with the cybersecurity program. However, this team cannot be everywhere. You can extend its reach by identifying and appointing IT security champions in your organization. They don’t have to be technical experts or have an IT background. They just need to be passionate about cybersecurity and committed to encouraging and modeling positive behavior. Champions are closer to their colleagues and can gauge how well staff is adapting to a new program and field any questions or concerns employees may have about the cybersecurity campaign. In addition, they can ensure that every key decision made in the department’s policies, procedures, and processes is consistent with the organization’s overarching IT security stance and that their co-workers understand the importance of embracing the changes.

• Review and update your cybersecurity program regularly

The threat landscape is never static. Hackers are constantly discovering ways to break through cyber-defenses as the components of technology continue to evolve. Cybersecurity strategies that were effective a few years ago may not work as well today. To be effective, your cybersecurity program must evolve along with the changing nature of threats. There may also be changes in security and privacy regulations that require a shift in what your cybersecurity program focuses on. It’s important to review both the threat landscape and staff readiness to identify weaknesses in the program. Update your cybersecurity program to ensure staff is regularly appraised of methods that will prevent cyberattacks. If your cybersecurity plan fails to change with the times, you’ll eventually end up with employees who become easy conduits for a major cyberattack.