As we move towards a more digitalized world, IT security is gaining ever-increasing importance in your business, operations and processes. IT services now represent both the center of business operations and the primary line of defense for most companies. It is essential that your employees are aware of the fact that IT services and security are a key element in any operation. If your employees are unfamiliar with basic and advanced IT security threats or policy, they are the weakest link in the chain. However, security-conscious and trained employees become a force that provides an extra layer of IT security for your business. In order to strengthen your company's IT security, you should consider the following recommendations for investing in your employees.
- Invest in Your Employees
The first step you can take to strengthen your company's IT security is to train and prepare your employees. At the most basic level, your company's IT security depends on your people. As InfoWorld columnist Roger Grimes puts it: “Successful security strategies are about teams, not tools.” When it comes to IT security, your “team” means all of your company's employees. When it comes to IT security, there are two main functions that each of your employees who serve as security assets for your business should be familiar with:
- Policy compliance
- event response
Investments in these two areas foster increased awareness of IT security among your employees. This reduces security risks and prepares your company to act more consciously in case of potential breaches.
- Teach IT Threat Recognition and Policy Parameters
Everyone in your company needs some form of compliance and compliance training for your business's IT security policy. These trainings cover both company policy (important IT services, primary vulnerabilities, and responsible parties) and how to recognize and follow these policy parameters. The trainings increase the awareness of your employees, who are the main security guards of your company, about IT security policy and ensure that IT services work more securely.
Methods such as sending reminders to employees on how to accurately detect common IT security threats such as phishing emails or which security software to update regularly are simple but effective.
- Incident Response Application
The second core function of IT security that your business should invest in is incident response and response implementation. Practicing what to do and what to do in the event of a potential IT security breach provides a form of damage control insurance for your company.
Despite all of their efforts, a company may not be able to avoid IT security breaches. In the past year alone, public data breach notifications have increased by 300 percent. If your company is the target of an IT security attack, it is known that the best answer is the one that has already been practiced and implemented.
For example, think of an IT security breach as a fire in your office: If you've had a fire drill in the past, your employees are significantly less likely to experience chaos. While the fire is raging, your company can still respond in an organized manner, allowing you to control and reduce the amount of damage you inflict.
The same goes for an IT breach. In the event of an attack, the outcome is even worse if your employees panic and start making an instinctive effort to actually access and “save” files and data. Teach your employees how to act in the event of an attack, that is, how to react in a measured and responsible way.
IT SECURITY IS ALL ABOUT YOUR EMPLOYEES
The most important asset of a company is people. When it comes to IT security, your company should treat and train its employees equally. Every company needs to invest in regular IT security training for their employees. The two primary ways your company can promote employee IT security awareness and prevent IT services from being compromised are compliance training (education on policies and how to implement them) and incident response implementation training.
