For business communication security, employee awareness is your first line of defense. The more your staff know about the risks, the better prepared they are to deal with potential attacks and the safer your business will be. Unfortunately, recent studies have shown that more than half of employees today lack training in online security. For a business owner like yourself, this can be a frightening idea. Such a lack of awareness and training poses a grave danger to your business should you become the target of an online attack.
Check Your Employees’ Level of Awareness
But don’t fret just yet. Maybe your staff knows more about online safety than typical employees. To find out where their security knowledge is, have them take this Employee Readiness Check offered by us. This quiz that we have created will gauge how prepared employees are if a cyberattack happens. If they pass with flying colors, then good for you! Your business has a strong defense against online attacks!
Sadly, it is more likely that they will score lower than you expect. The statistics don’t lie. The quiz will show that most employees cannot identify a phishing email if it hits them in the face!
Train Your Employees on Recognizing a Phishing Threat
Phishing is an online threat to communication security. Hackers attempt to steal data by posing as legitimate entities. The concept sounds too simplistic to work, but it would surprise you how effective it is at tricking unsuspecting employees. With a successful phishing attack, cybercriminals can gather sensitive information like your bank details, client databases, and passwords.
To help prevent phishing attacks from succeeding, you must train your employees to practice caution and take the following steps when using the company’s communication system.
Examine email addresses.
Phishing addresses look like the real deal, but to be proactive with your employee awareness pay close attention. What should have been a “.com” might be a “.co”.
Hover over the links to verify.
For better employee awareness, before clicking on any link sent through email, texts, or social messaging, hover over it to see the URL. If it is not something that looks familiar, it is better to not click than risk the danger.
Check for errors in spelling and grammar.
These are common telltale signs of a phishing email. Official correspondence from reputable entities gets proofread and spell-checked before being sent out. Messages rife with mistakes are most likely the work of hackers trying to get into your system.
Ignore emails that ask for passwords.
Be aware that a trusted company will not request your password or other personal information through email messages. If you get a message that asks for such, it is best to ignore or block it.
With the volume of emails that employees receive daily, plus all the other tasks they must do in the workplace. It is easy to become complacent with communication security which is why employee awareness plays a vital role in your company. Hence, you must train your employees regularly and give them pop quizzes from time to time by sending them harmless “phishing emails” to see if they can deal with these kinds of threats properly.
Have more questions about this topic? We’re here to help. Contact us for answers, guidance, or support.
