6 Ways To Foster A Cyber Secure Culture Within Your Company – Technologist
The term ‘cyber security’ often seems overly technical, leading many to believe it’s solely the responsibility of IT experts. However, the human factor is critical, with 95% of cyber security issues traced to human error. Here are six practical tips to make cyber security a shared responsibility within your organisation, and foster a cyber secure culture throughout your business
Acceptable Use Policy in your Company Culture
To ensure that all employees are aware of the culture around cyber security within your business, clearly outline permissible IT resource use. Emphasise the importance of staying away from uploading or downloading from risky websites; use strong passwords which constantly need to be updated and also ban unauthorised software. Lay out the risks and dangers of not following the rules and implement a disciplinary approach in this scenario. Also, it is always recommended that you ban the personal use of company equipment, particularly if it holds sensitive company data.
Role-Specific Policies and Procedures
Define specific cyber security responsibilities for different roles, particularly for those handling sensitive data. If a new employee is in a manager role or needs administrative roles, then it is vital that they are aware of their responsibilities, including checking everyone is changing their passwords and hasn’t downloaded any authorised applications onto their devices. The same needs to be implemented by employees who have been promoted internally.
Job Descriptions Emphasising the Cyber Secure Culture
Include cyber security responsibilities in job roles to ensure accountability. Many job descriptions overlook information security responsibilities, but they are ideal for including such details. For instance, the head of development’s role should explicitly involve defining and maintaining a secure development life cycle.
Individual developers’ roles might include adherence to the SDLC and security coding standards. Additionally, to meet compliance standards, organisations should maintain a responsibility matrix that maps each control to the respective role responsible for its maintenance.
Cyber Security Awareness Training
Provide comprehensive training on common threats like phishing and social engineering to all employees. Neuways offer Phishing Awareness Training as part of our Managed Security Awareness Training services, which helps employees to spot phishing attacks such as spam emails which contain malware or ransomware. There is a new sort of B2B phishing attack which encourages business owners to download certain software that apparently includes budgets for the next quarter. It is vital that cyber attacks like this software are stopped at source. Awareness Training most definitely helps with that.
Role-Specific Training to Improve the Culture
Offer targeted training for employees with specific security responsibilities, such as developers and incident responders. Developers need to be aware of patches and cyber vulnerabilities within certain software and apps that they use, so please domconsider role-specific training within your business. Managed Cyber Security providers that cover the whole of the UK like Neuways help businesses to target their training at specific issues within their industries, like manufacturing and logistics.
Granular Cyber Security Culture Documentation
Clearly document all security responsibilities within policies and procedures, ensuring everyone knows their specific duties. By integrating these strategies, organisations can foster a culture where cybersecurity is a collective responsibility, reducing risks and enhancing overall security posture.
Contact Neuways to help implement a Cyber Secure Culture
Get in touch with Neuways for help with Managed Cyber Security and IT Support. We are a company that boasts years of experience, and we prove our worth via the services we provide. Have a look at our site today and speak to the global experts at Neuways. We cover all of the UK with our IT support, so we’d be delighted to hear from you.