A Modern Approach to Cybersecurity in the Workplace

Discover why cybersecurity in the workplace is crucial for protecting your business. In this blog, we share essential security awareness tips for employees, strategies to foster a cybersecurity culture, and how to implement robust security measures.

Thanks to recent technological advancements, cybersecurity in the workplace is more important than ever. Threat actors are more creative, and attack methods are more potent, such as AI-powered attacks, advanced persistent threats, deep fakes, and more.

The result: Attacks happen more frequently and severely than ever before. The good news is that by adjusting your approach to cybersecurity in the workplace, you can still stay ahead of attackers and keep your digital infrastructure safe.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this blog:

Understanding Cybersecurity in the Workplace

Why Workplace Cybersecurity Is Everyone’s Responsibility

Developing a Cybersecurity Culture at Your Organization

Employing Cybersecurity Best Practices

The Role of Ongoing Cybersecurity Education and Training

Using the following security awareness tips for employees, you can enjoy safer networks and smooth, uninterrupted operations.

Here are a few key takeaways we’ll cover in this blog:

• While some traditional threats, such as phishing and malware, haven’t changed, the delivery tactics have. You can protect your data and systems by keeping employees aware of these changes.
• Cybersecurity can’t only be a concern for your IT team. Everyone has a stake, so all have to accept their responsibilities to protect your systems.
• You can develop a cybersecurity culture through a straightforward continuing education program and employee training.

Understanding Cybersecurity in the Workplace

Cybersecurity in the workplace includes protecting the data, hardware, software, and endpoints of employees, your network infrastructure, and customers and partners that interact with your assets. This also includes people who visit from other organizations and the public. Since these providers often have to interface with your network, they can inadvertently become conduits for malware and data thieves.

Many threats aren’t necessarily new, but they’re more common. Why? Attackers have changed their methods, especially when it comes to how they develop their attacks. For instance:

• Hacker groups have developed multiple malware-as-a-service programs. These enable novice attackers to purchase malware packages ready to go out of the box. A new cybercriminal can now launch what would have been considered a sophisticated attack only a few years ago.
• Attackers now use generative AI (GenAI) to develop and refine attacks. For example, phishing emails may no longer sound like they come from a non-native speaker because ChatGPT or another AI can write them. Hackers can also use AI to help write malicious code for apps.
• In the wake of many successful ransomware attacks, opportunistic hackers use this vector more frequently. Ransomware-as-a-services (RaaS) has exacerbated this increase.
• Data breaches have become more common because many organizations have implemented digital transformations that involve storing sensitive data online — either on-premise or in the cloud. This attracts attackers hungry to use data for extortion or to execute identity theft.

The fallout from the evolution of cyber threats has come from multiple angles. Companies often have to deal with the cost of recovering data, repairing systems, and liability expenses associated with allowing customer data to be stolen.

Attacks often also result in reputational damage. Customers’ data is precious and private. Failing to uphold your data stewardship responsibilities comes across as a betrayal of trust. It may take years to regain customers’ confidence.

From a legal perspective, companies may have to tangle with lawsuits from disgruntled customers whose data has been exposed to attackers. In some cases, an attack may reveal serious compliance issues. These could result in hefty fines from regulatory bodies, such as those governed by the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) or the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Why Workplace Cybersecurity Is Everyone’s Responsibility

Employees have a heavy responsibility when it comes to safeguarding their organizations from attacks.

Your organization may have only one, two or three physical doors. So, it’s relatively easy for a small security team to keep thieves and vandals out. From a digital perspective, on the other hand, every single endpoint is a door into your network. So are each employee’s login credentials — for every app, VPN and device. Even for a small organization, this can result in dozens of vulnerabilities.

Unless your employees embrace cyber hygiene, your company may operate with scores of doors wide open to attackers.

A large European retailer, Pepco, was recently hit with a devastating, two-phase phishing attack. The assault resulted in a loss of around 15.5 million euros. Here’s how the attackers succeeded.

First, they spoofed a legitimate email from an employee. In other words, they sent emails that made it look like they were coming from an actual employee. Then, since at least one recipient believed the emails came from an actual employee, they revealed sensitive information that enabled the attackers to steal the funds.

The fact that “hindsight is 20/20” doesn’t negate the fact that this attack, like many, would have been relatively easy to prevent.

First, employees need to know they should never send sensitive information or login credentials over email. Next, they need to understand the importance of checking the sender of every email before responding to it.

Getting employees on the same page about these and other relatively simple defense measures is much easier if you develop a cybersecurity culture.

Developing a Cybersecurity Culture at Your Organization

Even in companies with many tech-savvy employees, developing a cybersecurity culture has to start at the top. A top-down approach — at least initially — is essential for a few different reasons. First of all, it’s easier to hold employees accountable if security mandates come from their managers and others who may play a role in their evaluations.

Second, your leadership, especially those in IT, should better understand the kinds of vulnerabilities your teams need to know. To illustrate, suppose your company uses a cloud-based backup and recovery solution. An attacker who compromises your cloud provider or steals the credentials of an internal employee may be able to steal data or even attack your network from the outside.

Since your IT leadership may better understand the nature of this threat, they’re in a good position to teach employees how to prevent it and detect an attack if it occurs.

However, this doesn’t mean employees take a “back seat.” Once they understand their responsibilities, they have to close as many “doors” as possible to keep the maximum number of attacks from impacting your system.

Here are some strategies to foster the kind of culture that empowers your workforce to double as your defense force:

• Recognize and reward cyber-safe behavior. Even if an employee simply reports a suspected phishing attack, acknowledge them — both privately and publicly. This could be done via a newsletter, company meeting, or department meeting.
• Include cyber hygiene in the employee evaluation process. You don’t have to include punitive measures, but by at least making it a bullet point in their review, you help keep security top of mind.
• Hold regular cybersecurity training. If you already have a program in place, increasing the frequency of training may help. For instance, you may increase the number of training sessions per year from two to six.
• Regularly update your organization on its cyber health. For instance, if there have been no incidents associated with people opening phishing emails, clicking suspicious links, or visiting dubious websites, formally acknowledge that with regular announcements.

Employing Cybersecurity Best Practices

Keeping your network secure may not be as difficult as you think, especially once you have all employees and your IT team on board. Here are some helpful cybersecurity awareness tips:

• Enforce tight password design and protection policies. Keep passwords complicated and hard to guess. Employees should also store them securely, perhaps in a password management app.
• Use role-based access controls, which involve only letting people access sensitive areas if they need to in order to do their jobs.
• Use zero-trust principles. These principles focus on assuming that all people, apps, devices, and networks are a threat until they prove otherwise.
• Take advantage of multifactor authentication systems for all of your business apps.
• Regularly install system updates and patches. Updates from software and hardware manufacturers often address vulnerabilities. A quick, free update can protect you from dangerous attacks.
• Make sure employees understand your security and incident response protocols. In addition to knowing what attacks look like, each employee should understand what to do and who to reach out to in the event of an incident. Additionally, their action steps may be different based on the type of attack. For instance, they may have to shut down their workstation during a suspected ransomware attack, but not if they think phishing hackers are targeting them.

The Role of Ongoing Cybersecurity Education and Training

New cyber threats pop up on the landscape all the time. For example, AI-powered attacks were relatively unheard of until recently. Since attack methods change so rapidly, you need a continuous learning system built on adaptability. Those responsible for implementing training need to have their ears to the ground so they understand the threats creeping over the horizon.

While your cybersecurity training systems should come from the top, employees need to be continuously engaged via regular reminders, and they should receive recognition on their evaluations and in front of others. When you have a cybersecurity initiative, give employees simple assignments that make them active participants instead of passive listeners.

To stay updated on security trends, check out cybersecurity blogs and news sites, such as Krebsonsecurity.com, Schneier.com, and Thehackernews.com. By staying informed about the most recent threats, maintaining data protection measures, and fostering a security-first culture, you can reduce your risk and focus on growing your business.

Data breaches and ransomware attacks threaten financial stability and customer trust that could impact your organization for years to come. Our Cybersecurity experts can help you address your most pressing cybersecurity issues and keep compliance a continuous commitment at your organization. Let’s Talk