Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common and sophisticated, and companies need to be prepared to stop them in their tracks or suffer through the consequences. Fortunately, one of the best ways to prevent cyber attacks from impacting your organization is by having engaged employees who are on the lookout for suspicious activity and know how to report it when they see it. Here’s how engaged employees prevent cyber attacks at work. There most definitely is a relationship between cyber security and employee engagement.
When it comes to cyber security, employee engagement can play a big role in protecting your organization from cyber attacks. When employees care about what they do and are invested in their company’s success, they will pay closer attention to what is going on around them, including paying attention to suspicious activity that may occur on their computers or other devices.
Most of us recognize that there’s a direct link between employee engagement and business performance, and that engagement—and its subsequent improvement—is a process, not an event. But it may come as a surprise to many organizations that are relying on their employees for cyber security. In fact, recent research from Hewlett Packard Enterprise shows that employee disengagement is one of three main contributors to cyber attacks.
Every employee can and should do something to improve cyber security. Here are 10 steps you can take today to make your organization more secure:
1. Use strong passwords, change them regularly, and do not share them with anyone.
2. Turn on two-factor authentication for all accounts you control (but only if it doesn’t create a barrier for employees to access critical tools).
3. Report any suspicious emails or websites you receive, even if they don’t appear dangerous to others. 4. Lock your computer when not in use—don’t have sensitive information visible on your screen.
5. Do not plug flash drives or other devices into work computers unless needed, and then unplug them immediately after use.
6. If an email is trying to get you to click a link inside of it, don’t do it!
7. Don’t open attachments from people you don’t know; never put personal files on public computers.
8. Be aware of who might be able to see your social media profile, and limit publicly available personal details about yourself as much as possible.
9. Don’t save passwords in web browsers; use password managers instead (e.g., LastPass)
10. Make sure your employees are engaged so they will be attentive in the event of a cyber threat.
If you want to know more, check out this article about Breaking Complacency
Also, here is some interesting research on why cyber security s an employee engagement problem.