Time for New Habits – How to Protect Yourself from the New Wave of Cyberattacks

Do you also feel like your vacation tan barely has time to fade before old habits resurface? The pandemic has forced many organizations to adopt new ways of working. This shift has triggered a new wave of phishing and ransomware attacks, where cybercriminals take advantage of distracted and stressed employees.

Maybe your organization has casually talked about cyberattacks once or twice, resulting in a few minor security measures here and there? Information security can feel overwhelming, and many believe they need to hire expensive consultants and tools to succeed.

But the truth is, you can ensure you’re five steps ahead of a cybercriminal on your own.

The Key to Cybersecurity – Everyone Onboard!

An important factor in cybersecurity efforts is ensuring that everyone in the organization is onboard. Employees’ skills and engagement regarding security incidents are often crucial to the organization’s overall security.

This is why it’s essential that everyone in the organization understands what is expected of them and has access to the necessary tools to contribute to a stronger security network across the organization.

5 Steps to High Cybersecurity in Your Organization

Staying five steps ahead of cybercriminals is a smart move. This checklist helps you drive cybersecurity efforts forward step by step while engaging employees in a new security culture.

1. Develop a Simple Security Plan

Connecting cybersecurity to IT systems might feel natural, as the focus is on securing information assets that are primarily stored digitally. However, what is often overlooked is that cybersecurity is not just about IT systems—it should also be considered a business risk.

A simple security plan, incorporating the five steps in this checklist, helps protect your organization’s assets from major risks. This effort will definitely involve the IT department but also other areas of the organization, such as HR, sales, and more.

Make sure the plan is anchored with both employees and management before you start implementing it. Everyone can contribute to the organization’s security network!

2. Educate Employees

Virus and spam filters are great, but sometimes malicious emails still find their way into employees’ inboxes. In such cases, a single click on a link could expose sensitive and business-critical information within the organization.

This is why it’s crucial to support employees by educating them about cybersecurity. Offer various forms of cybersecurity training, ensuring that everyone in the organization learns how to identify phishing emails and how to report a potential security attack.

 

3. Create a Clear Password Management Policy

Think of passwords as the keys to your organization. Leaving the key easily accessible under the doormat makes it simple for experienced cybercriminals to gain entry. A successful password management policy is based on understanding human behavior and actions—both the employee creating the password and the individual attempting to exploit it.

Develop a clear policy on how passwords are managed within your organization. Train employees on how to create strong passwords and emphasize the importance of not reusing passwords on websites outside of work.

There are several tools available to assist with password management in your organization, including password monitoring, password managers, and multi-factor authentication.

4. Inventory the Organization’s Assets, Risks, and Threats

When an insurance company assesses the premium for a new client, they start by identifying where the client’s most valuable assets are and how they are protected. If you have high-value copper wire stored in an unlocked box, it would be wise to rethink the level of protection and establish new security routines to keep the “premium” low.

Allocating resources to inventory the organization’s valuable information assets is a crucial foundational task that helps minimize potential security risks and threats. An inventory allows you to assess the level of protection your organization requires, plan protective measures effectively, and prioritize resources appropriately.

The inventory process is easiest when using an asset register and conducting a risk analysis for each asset. Ideally, the inventory should be conducted with selected employees who possess expertise in different areas.

5. Inform, Listen, and Discuss

As with so many other success stories, effective cybersecurity efforts are built on communication. Discuss and share experiences with industry peers and other knowledgeable individuals in the field of information and cybersecurity. By gathering insights and advice from the organization’s leadership, you gain an overview and understanding of the practical challenges and opportunities.

Don’t forget to tune in to the organization as a whole. Listening to employees allows you to validate or disprove security assumptions and outdated beliefs. It provides concrete insights into how cybersecurity efforts and other protective measures are actually functioning within the organization.