06/20/2017

Make Your Employees Your First Line of Cybersecurity Defense

Consider these cybersecurity tips from OSAE Member thinkCSC

One of the most common misconceptions about cybersecurity is that small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) don’t need to worry about cyber-threats or attacks. This simply is untrue. Over the last few years, more than 70 percent of the organizations that have lost money to cyber-crime have been SMBs. Make no mistake: Small businesses are a big target. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most prominent causes is a lack of training and awareness among employees. People are the biggest threat to an organization’s security. But you can make your people your first line of defense.

Who?
Every person – from the president, CEO, and chairman of the board to the custodians, cashiers and administrators – should receive cybersecurity training and be held accountable for following all security policies. It is important to note that almost half of the losses associated with cyber-crime have been attributed to insider fraud and carelessness.

Given how widespread the usage is of personal devices among employees, on and off company premises, BYOD security policies must be addressed, as well. This is particularly true when employees use personal devices to conduct company business – including accessing work email accounts. Any device that connects, even sporadically, to company systems and accesses business data can be targeted by cyber-criminals and should be subject to specific security requirements.

Please click here to read the complete article from OSAE Member thinkCSC.