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Security Awareness & Why It’s Important

IT Services

While tools like Multifactor Authentication (MFA) and Password Managers address account security, there is an even bigger risk within your organization – your end users. Did you know that people account for 95% of cyber-attacks? All it takes is one employee mistake to cause a data breach. So, you might be asking “How can we reduce our risk and help people change their behavior to become part of the solution instead of the problem?” The answer is simple – by creating awareness and continuous education.

Ongoing Training

Your business is important and maintaining the security of sensitive information and systems is critical to reducing your organizational risk. Security awareness training is designed to help employees recognize and prevent those threats. Knowing how to identify and report potential security risks can help reduce the likelihood of a data breach or other security incidents. Without awareness, your business is one click away from facing serious consequences – damage to your reputation, financial losses, and possible legal liabilities to name a few. Implementing annual training as well as weekly security training videos for all your employees is a great place to start. Security threats change regularly, and ongoing training will keep security top of mind and can help build a culture of security within your organization.

Phishing Simulations

While ongoing training is critical to keeping us aware of the potential security risks to our organization, it would be nice to ensure the training is working, right? This is where phishing simulations can help. These campaigns can be setup to simulate a phishing email that will be used to test and educate employees on how to recognize and prevent phishing attacks. These simulated emails typically involve sending fake phishing emails that appear legitimate to your employees. Reports are generated for employees that may be more susceptible to clicking a phishing email and can help create visibility where more training might be needed. Having this information helps employees continue to learn how to recognize signs of a phishing attack and avoid them moving forward.

Awareness, slowing down, and being intentional before we open an email or click a link can prevent a serious security incident, unwanted downtime, and potential loss of data and assets. Taking a proactive approach to security is important for every organization. Security Awareness Training is only a piece of the puzzle. If you would like to discuss how to create a robust security culture and IT services for your organization in West Michigan, Schedule a Consult!

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