Cybersecurity Education for SMBs

In the third installment of starting your year off with cyber hygiene, we will focus on Education and Awareness for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). In the third installment of starting your year off with cyber hygiene, we will focus on Education and Awareness for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Check out the first two posts in this series: Risk Management for SMBs and Data Protection for SMBs. 

As a small business owner, your employees are your first line of defense against cyber criminals. Attack vectors continue to evolve as technology changes, and your employees need to understand the latest trends and tactics used against small businesses. 

• Phishing can be traced back as the source of 1 in every 3 data breaches.
• 70% of business data loss involved human error.
• Remote work and remote access to business data were responsible for 20% of data breaches. 

The Human Firewall

Small business employees represent the front line of defending your business against security threats. An educated workforce will be more effective at recognizing and reporting attacks on your business and more productive employees because they will understand the expectations of a security incident and move on. 

A Culture of Awareness

Employees should be able to recognize the signs of a phishing or malware campaign and know what to do when they experience one in a business environment. SMBs should have well-defined reporting systems to respond to security incidents that the employees understand and are reminded of often. Additionally, SMBs should create a culture of openness around cybersecurity so employees feel open to reporting a problem if they click on a link they shouldn’t have. 

Compliance

Many business sectors like healthcare, financial services, and education require employee security awareness training to operate in their industry. Additionally, most cyber insurance and some business insurance policies contain requirements around security awareness training. As a small business owner, employee education and awareness make good business sense but may also be a requirement for you to do business.  Cybersecurity education and training are no longer a luxury for SMBs. The more your employees understand data security, the more likely they will share issues when they occur and make the right choices during their work day. For more information on getting started with employee cybersecurity education, check out our Cybersecurity Services for Small Businesses page, or contact Skynet Innovations today and start the conversation for more secure business data.