Every October is the annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month. But should security awareness only be on the agenda once a year?
I for one sure hope not. I hope cybersecurity is a subject that’s on “on” every month of the year. Cybersecurity should be on a constant reminder for all organisations complete with employee training all year round. And October should come with an extra oomph. Information about the latest cyber threats and the right response and actions to take will stay fresh in the employee’s mind always, not just one month a year. Cybersecurity is a subject far more important than that.
It’s Your Job Too!
It’a common misconception that IT specialists and great firewalls can keep a company safe. Firewalls and code are also not the places hackers of today use to get into your system. Nope! They use people. 9 out of 10 successful data breaches have been carried out through the manipulation of unsuspecting humans.
Regular people that weren’t aware that a link could be wrong, that a PDF was a malware in disguise, that an email was phishing and hit home. This is how hackers get into your company. Security breaches are no longer done by obscure hacking while sitting in a dark an techno filled basement.
All year round we see ads on TV or on social media to use seat belts or to not text and drive, vital messages you’ll all agree, right? Well, people are in constant threat of being breached, hacked, fooled or lured into some criminal schemes to get their personal or their company’s data. We need to be constantly aware of those threats as well so we’ll stay vigilant when handling sensitive data, our passwords and our company’s information.
It’s been proven that us humans can be the best protection, a virtual human firewall, with the right training. We’ll be ready and we won’t be fooled.
So why don’t we have cybersecurity awareness month every month?
Check out our video catalog with more security awareness videos to celebrate Cybersecurity Awareness Month!