Simple Security Practices Every Employee Should Follow

Are there simple daily practices that our team can adopt to help protect our business from cyber threats?

We see this question asked frequently within the IT sphere and understand that businesses want to adopt simple daily practices to ensure that the team is secure from cyber threats. Therefore, we have listed a handful of simple strategies your business will benefit from.

?Security Awareness Training- To boost business security, implement a security awareness training program. Research indicates that about 80% of breaches stem from human error. By educating your staff to spot phishing emails and other threats, you build a robust "human firewall" against such malicious events.

?Regular Software Updates- Another simple method to protecting your business from cyberthreats is ensuring that your operating system (Windows or Mac) is updated, and any software used such as Photoshop or Sage is updated to the newest version. Hackers will target older versions of Windows or pieces of Software which aren’t receiving important security updates anymore. This creates a weak spot in your cybersecurity which can be fixed by ensuring you check for updates frequently.

?Strong Password Policies- Many companies enforce policies surrounding password strength and quality. If this is something your business isn’t doing, it is an easy way to reduce malicious login attempts. By enforcing a minimum requirement, you can greatly reduce the chances of breaches into your network.

?Creating a Cybersecurity Culture- Although a cybersecurity culture sounds a confusing phrase, it is simply a way of describing the knowledge and beliefs surrounding IT and cybersecurity within a business. There are three ways to create a culture shift within your business and become more cyber aware.

1. Top Down Culture Building- Directors and other authoritative members of staff should promote the message of cybersecurity and become a figure to learn from for other employees.

2. Security Awareness Training- Members of staff should be trained using a reputable training programme. This will provide fundamental security skills and new abilities such as phishing email spotting.

3. Communication- Encourage employees to talk and help one another with cybersecurity concerns and promote employees to be proactive in their approach towards cyber threats. Simulated phishing provides a powerful method to test the skills of your members of staff.