Basic User Cybersecurity Awareness for Employees in 2022

The prevention of phishing and other social engineering attacks that can bypass the security gateway is made possible through user security awareness training. Your company is in danger of data loss, financial fraud, and humiliating exposure due to these constantly changing and sophisticated attack strategies that are intended to trick personnel. Training in user security awareness turns employees from potential attack targets into a layer of defence for your company.

Why do employees need user awareness training?

According to research, human error accounts for more than 90% of security breaches. Training in security awareness helps to reduce risk, preventing the loss of PII, intellectual property, money, or brand reputation. An efficient cyber security awareness programme covers the errors that staff members may make when utilising email, the internet, and the real world, such as tailgating or incorrect document disposal.

Dealing with malware 

Malware, short for “malicious software,” is a category of computer programme whose main objective is to infect a user’s computer. Inadvertently installing software like browser toolbars or download helpers that are packaged with otherwise innocent-looking programmes is one way that malware is typically delivered. All users must understand how to spot it and safeguard themselves from all its manifestations. By taking advantage of security flaws in your operating system and applications, certain viruses can infiltrate your computer. Some common types of malware are:

• Viruses – Clean files are infected by computer viruses when they connect to them. They have a rapid rate of propagation and frequently destroy or delete important system files.
• Trojans – This type of malware poses as legitimate software or is included in changed versions of legitimate software. Trojans are designed to generate security holes in your computer system that may be used by other infections. They frequently operate undetected.
• Spyware –Malware designed to track you is called spyware. It observes what you do online while remaining undetected and utilises this information to compile private information about you.
• Ransomware – Ransomware, sometimes referred to as scareware, can lock down your computer and threaten to delete your data until a ransom is paid.

Phishing

Phishing is the practice of pretending to be a reliable entity in an electronic contact to steal sensitive data, such as usernames, passwords, or banking information, frequently for harmful purposes. Phishing is an illustration of a social engineering method intended to deceive people and take advantage of security gaps in networks. Phishing comes in a variety of forms, including:

• Spear phishing
  This is an attempt to get unauthorised access to sensitive information using a targeted email mimicking a particular company or person. To maximise their chances of success, attackers frequently obtain personal information about their victims.
• Clone phishing
  This is when the content and recipient address of genuine, previously legitimate emails are taken and used to clone or produce an identical email. Malicious software is used to replace any genuine attachments or links in the original email, and it is then sent from a fake email address to deceive the recipient into thinking it came from the sender.
• Whaling
  This is a phishing attempt designed to target senior management based on that person’s position inside the organisation. A whale attack email frequently presents its contents as a court summons, client issue, or executive concern. Whaling scam emails are created to seem like a crucial business emails sent by an authorised corporate representative.

How to protect your business

• Staying backed up 
  By replicating data from servers, databases, desktops, laptops, and other devices in the event of a user error, damaged files, or a natural disaster that leaves crucial data inaccessible, backup software offers security for company data. In the case of hardware failure, hacker intrusion, and many other hazards presented to digitally stored information, it may also safeguard vital company data. It’s up to you how you back up your important documents, but a few suggestions include doing so on a reputable, safe place given by your company, including a local server, a Microsoft SharePoint folder, or a distant cloud location like Microsoft OneDrive.
• Using secure passwords
  Effective passwords are complex, impersonal, often changed, and specific to each website. Your several web accounts will be safer as a result. It’s crucial to follow password best practises, keeping safe whether you’re using a laptop or desktop computer provided by your employer or just your own mobile device. For this reason, businesses are progressively replacing weak or obvious passwords with more secure ones, or at the very least, enhancing them with multi-factor alternatives. You should always have Multi-Factor Authentication enabled for your work account, depending on how your organisation is set up. Since they are significantly more secure than passwords alone, you should utilise biometric authentication wherever available, such as Apple’s Face ID or fingerprint sensors.
• Training your staff
  The main vector for these attacks relies on your staff being vulnerable – either not recognising a potential piece of malware, falling for a high-pressure email that seems legitimate, or using low-strength passwords. Cybersecurity staff training teaches all your teams to be proactive in IT security, shows them how to avoid common threats, secure their work, and prevent potentially devastating attacks. With the right level of security awareness, your staff become a key component of your data protection strategy.

Want peace of mind? Get cybersecurity teams to handle it

We hope that this fast tutorial has improved user awareness to lower the risk of cyber security risks inside your company and helped you and your team better grasp the dangers to cyber security that are currently out there. To manage your IT security, however, if you’d rather focus your time on work, why not ask our experts for some advice? Our cyber security specialists can assist you in implementing policies, software, and other measures to help safeguard you and your staff from risks.