Utah businesses must stay ever-vigilant to protect themselves against security breaches. Cyber crime is astronomically costly to businesses – experts expect $6 trillion in worldwide damages by the end of the year – and can affect any business, large or small.
We tend to focus on the perpetrators of these cyber crimes when we’re trying to create effective security, but did you know the vast majority of these breaches are successful due to human error? That’s right – even the best firewalls, antivirus, and encryption may not be enough to fight back against cyber security threats if your team members don’t know what to watch out for. That’s why we recommend that employees at your company receive comprehensive IT security training conducted by INTELITECHS. The industry standard is to develop the Human Firewall in order to protect the employee and the business, and that is our focus.
Here are a few common security concerns your employees can help you address after they’ve gone through IT security training.
Out of Date Software and Overused Passwords
Out of date software may be more easily exploited by cyber criminals. Software developers are constantly updating their products to make them more secure, and they expect that their customers will take advantage of these upgrades. When your employees fail to keep their programs up-to-date, they may be missing out on important security patches. Many program updates can be automated, but it’s still a smart idea to teach employees how to tell whether their software is up-to-date. Informed team members can catch any failed updates and notify your managed services IT team right away.
Security training should also stress the importance of regularly updating passwords. Employees should choose a unique password for each login so that even a successful phishing attempt cannot be exploited to access multiple programs and systems. Security training can teach employees how to create secure passwords.
Email Phishing
Phishing is a common method cybercriminals use to gain access to a company’s information, servers, and hardware. It often occurs in the form of an email that requests confidential information about the individual or company, demands payment for fictitious goods or services, or asks the recipient to install a program or open a malicious attachment. Many of these phishing attempts are successful because they target employees who may not be able to see the red flags. IT security training teaches employees about phishing attacks and what to look out for.
VPN Issues and Remote Device Mismanagement
Remote employees should always have a security checklist they follow to keep their devices and data safe. We’ll teach your remote employees why it’s important to maintain strong password security, to always use a virtual private network, to avoid auto-connecting to unknown wifi networks, and to keep their mobile device software and operating system up to date. Even when your team isn’t working in the office, you’ll all feel confident about maintaining data security.
Create An IT Security Culture
When you create a security culture within your organization, you show your employees that you value security over efficiency. Having team members who know they can take a few extra moments to assess cyber risks without being penalized will save your company time and money in the long run. Contact us to learn more about building your company’s IT security culture.
