The rise in cyberattacks after the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major point of concern among business leaders. A reliance on digital infrastructure, along with the wide accessibility of generative artificial intelligence (AI) products, has heightened the level of risk for companies across industries. Whether it’s malware, ransomware, viruses or phishing campaigns, organizations face a wide variety of threats in a tech-driven business world.

Recognizing the impact of these emerging threats, organizations are stepping up their investments in sophisticated cybersecurity solutions and managed services to reduce the likelihood of an attack. Yet, even with these protections in place, businesses often lack focus on one of their most effective lines of defense — a well-trained staff.

Hornetsecurity’s recent global survey featuring responses from over 150 information technology (IT) leaders found that 1 in 4 organizations still do not provide IT security awareness training. The survey also revealed that nearly 30% of companies with 1 to 50 employees do not offer any form of IT security awareness training. Additionally, an IBM Threat Intelligence survey estimates that 95% of all cybersecurity incidents occur.The Urgent Need for Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Despite decades of using digital infrastructure, many employees still lack basic cybersecurity skills due to insufficient regular training. Even employees familiar with cybersecurity best practices often fail to apply them, distracted by a fast-paced work environment. However, following foundational practices can significantly strengthen an organization’s cybersecurity.

The key is to remember that employees play a major role in keeping a business safe from cyber-attacks. Advanced cybersecurity solutions alone won’t deter attackers, especially as hackers often rely on the mistakes of untrained employees.

Below are some of the most common ways hackers can take advantage of employees:

• Social engineering: Employees often review communications with little thought about the legitimacy of who’s at the other end. Because of this, hackers send emails, texts and other forms of communication pretending to be real people to trick employees into sharing sensitive information or opening links with malicious attachments. They do this in the form of mass scam emails (phishing) or targeted ones (spear phishing) as well as via spam.

• Weak passwords: It’s common for employees to have multiple work accounts requiring a password to gain access. This leads many to use simple, easy-to-remember passwords for quick entry, despite lack of protection.

• Unlocked devices: Employees often take breaks and walk away from their computers, laptops or phones without locking them. This can give attackers the opportunity to gain access without any technical obstacles.

• Unsecured networks: With hybrid and remote work settings now being the norm, many employees work outside of the office on unsecured networks without safeguards like virtual private networks (VPNs). These networks can easily be breached by motivated hackers, who can then gain access to employees’ connected devices.

• Credential sharing: Employees who share accounts with coworkers often give out passwords without much thought. This can increase the potential for passwords to fall into the hands of threat actors who can use them for nefarious purposes.

• Outdated software: Software patches can become available without much notice, and employees often fail to update them amid work activities. But failing to do so can allow hackers to exploit vulnerabilities that put businesses at risk.

Employees as Your First Line of Defense Against Cyber Threats

It’s crucial for business leaders to understand that employees are a core line of defense against a cyberattack, so therefore, they must be diligent in regularly training employees on the most effective best practices. Embracing this philosophy can allow companies to build an effective human firewall that can reduce the likelihood of a successful attack.

While every company will have different cybersecurity requirements specific to their industry, businesses can apply these universal guidelines to their training programs to ensure employees do their part in mitigating risk.

• Conduct phishing simulations and offer immediate training if an employee falls for the simulated scam.
• Implement policies requiring the use of complex passwords, including a mix of numbers, symbols, and sufficient length for all company accounts.
• Provide continuous training to ensure employees verify the authenticity of digital communications and avoid opening links or attachments from unverified sources.
• Ensure company devices are locked when not in use to prevent unauthorized access.
• Mandate the use of secure networks or VPNs for employees working outside the office.
• Discourage credential sharing among employees, unless absolutely necessary.

Don’t let company people unknowingly compromise your organization’s security framework. By implementing a comprehensive, ongoing training program, you can complement your cybersecurity tech infrastructure with a well-trained workforce to significantly reduce cybersecurity risk.