Take Action On Cyber Security Training
What has become very apparent in the last few years is that all employees, from senior management to part-timers, are the largest cyber security vulnerability that any organisation faces. Businesses investing heavily in cyber security often base their investments on technology, but don’t sufficiently attend to the human side of the problem, which is a very important issue and requires cyber security training and engagement for all employees.
The reasons why employees are so important for the operations security is because often cyber criminals will perform attacks on an organisation using phishing emails and similar tactics, making employees the first line of defense that needs to be strengthened.
This means that organisations need to spend more time and thought creating a more sophisticated cyber security culture and behaviour change within their organisation and cyber training is a very important part of this process.
Despite the fact that some organisations has a partial focus on developing cyber security awareness, few individuals actually understand their role in the organisation’s security culture.
Recent analysis by Cyber Security Intelligence (CSI) shows that over half of most organisations employees have not received effective cybersecurity training, so it’s no surprise for instance that 96% of them still save passwords on their devices so they can ‘remember them’.
Effective cyber security training is difficult to do well. Security awareness training for end users is often too broad and sporadic to cultivate real needed skills for safe operation on networks. Typically, IT specialists lack responsibility for and proficiency in training. HR professionals are uniquely positioned to understand the role of trained employees in cyber risk mitigation and to mediate solutions for an organisation’s cyber security challenges. However, they often do not have expertise in cyber security and they may lack technical expertise in cyber defense.
Each aspect of the organisation knows part of the solution but none knows the whole solution and the result is disjointed and dysfunctional education and training.
Security training needs to be more than a mere annual necessity. It needs to be an interactive and engaging experience that will solidify their role in the security posture of the organisation.
Our Cyber Training Reports, are aimed at helping the management of organisations to review and comprehend the changing Cyber issues and how to deal with their cyber security training requirements that your organisation needs. These issues need to be understood and used by senior management for strategic and tactical planning by all aspects of your organisation.
One of the major issues that has become apparent and is not focused upon enough is the need for real time cyber training.
Cyber security training needs to take place within all organisations in order to significantly reduce the chances and risks of criminal success that are using cyberattacks and hacking methods to steal your data, money, company secrets and login information.
Currently cyber criminals are after identity resources such as social security numbers, credit card information and login credentials. These can be used to impersonate or steal directly from the organisation and cyberattacks are being used to steal, monitor and influence most organisations via their management and employees.
Background
We are at the beginning of an electronic revolution, that like earlier industrial revolutions, is already altering and substantially changing and redefining our society. The development has been called a Cyber Innovation or Web 0.3, but is probably best described as the 4th Industrial Revolution and will be a new age transformation for the world.
This change is happening far faster than previous industrial revolutions. It began as a form of Information Technology but it is now developing and employing a range of emerging electronic technologies.
These technologies include 3D commercial production, data driven vehicles, robotic, bio-technology, AI and there is a blurring of physical, digital and biological elements to create a new techno-reality. Of course, this is also changing and bringing new types of criminal activity. You share in this new revolution as you are part of over half of the world’s population that now browses the Web, be it for work, shopping, social media, news, entertainment, or as part of the cyber-criminals on the Dark Web.
Cyberspace can be visualised as an electronic nervous system running through many national and international sectors and systems.
Digital technology has already significantly rocked some industries like the publishing industry. Publishing has been completely changed by digital technology and has allowed readers a far faster electronic engagement with issues, news and analysis. However, as in all revolutions Cyber has a criminal down side and this also needs all of our engaging attention.
Cyber Attacks and Fraud
Cyberattacks have cost US businesses $654 billion in 2018/9 and UK businesses have lost at least $37 billion in the past 12 months due to cyber security attacks, hacks and related security incidents.The insurer found 55% of business had faced an attack in 2019 which is an increase from 40% in 2018. Currently almost 75% of firms are ranked as early starters in terms of cyber readiness.
Directors and Boards are often ignorant to the dangers of hackers as they rely and trust the confident in their IT Department’s ability to keep their organisations safe.
Often to stay safe within the organisations belief protocol IT managers often hide the systems weaknesses as they are often under pressure to reduce costs. Almost two thirds of all organisations have no board member tasked specifically to tackle cyber threats and these organisations have not had a cyber security audits completed on their organisation’s IT systems and personnel.
Training is an issue for the whole organisation and the fact is that employee education is the best way to tackle these types of threats.
Only around 27% of organisations have trained their employees in the last 12 months and this should be done on a frequent basis that doesn’t take up much of their time but keeps them on the cyber moment as the technology and the methods of attack change and become more sophisticated.For instance, currently Londoners are losing an average of £26 million a month in cyber-attacks on businesses and individuals, London's Metropolitan Police have warned.
Thousands of cyber fraud are recorded in the capital each month, with phishing emails, ransomware and malware the most common scams. Senior Police officers have warned fraudsters often target individual employees to bypass company security systems.
Analysists suggests that about 73 per cent of frauds are carried out online, with many criminals based overseas, making it difficult for police in the UK to pursue a case.
Information is Power, is certainly true when it comes to cybercrime. Access to your personal information is what gives hackers the power to tap into your accounts and steal your money or your identity. Everyone from governments, commercial organisations and you as individuals all need new understanding, strategies and specific tactics using Cyber’s outlook and potential. This requires a change in perspective, continued research and changes to working methods employing the relevant technology that projects into the new interconnected global future.
It is very important that senior management in all areas of business and commerce, police forces, the military and all other aspects of government create and continually review an electronic cyber training strategy. This will help to ensure that continually up-dated and educated employees from senior management to trainees use of cyber and IT tactics within the organisation and also when they are working on personal computers away and outside the organisation’s offices.
Directors and managersshould use training reports to track and summarise the key take-aways from training programs.
For a low cost briefing Report on your organisation’s cyber security and training please contact Cyber Security Intelligence and we will recommend the right cyber training and cyber audit for your organisation.
Please Contact: Cyber Security Intelligence for free advice on cyber training and cyber audits.
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