The Internet has enabled the world to be interconnected like never before. Businesses can sell goods and services on a global level, families can communicate instantaneously, and consumers are able to connect with information at their fingertips. When it comes to cybersecurity, however, this interconnectedness has led to unprecedented risks that organizations must do their best to prepare for.

When it comes to dealing with these threats, however, the best defense is knowledge. Organizations must educate their employees to be able to identify cyber attacks and what to do when they are faced with one.

1) Developing an Education Plan

One of the most important things that organizations can do to prepare their employees for cyber attacks is to create an education plan. This plan should include what employees need to know about cyber security and how they will receive this training. Having a firm method in place for training all of your employees on cyber security means that everyone will be able to respond quickly and decisively if a threat arises. The three types of training that every employee should have are cyber civics, applicable regulations, and coping mechanisms.

a) Cyber Civics

It is important to begin employees’ training with cyber civics to help them understand how cyber attacks can affect their organization. It would be easy to assume that everyone knows how the Internet works, but these basics are too important to leave out of any security training plan. By helping their employees understand the basics of the Internet, organizations can lay a foundation for them to use as they learn more about cyber security and how they can defend against cyber attacks.

b) Applicable Regulations and Policies

It is important for any organization with a workforce to create its own policies and regulations to help define what employees can and cannot do on the internet. With regulations, employees will know what behaviors are acceptable, which ones are not, and who is responsible for enforcing these policies . By knowing the regulations that they should follow, employees will be able to act quickly when presented with a cyber security situation.

c) Coping Mechanisms

After teaching employees what to do and how to do it, the next important step is to teach employees how to deal with cyber threats. This is done by developing coping mechanisms that they can use in different situations. For example, an employee may be able to defuse a social engineering attempt through humor or may know that ignoring persistent messages from unknown sources is often enough to make the threat go away. By having multiple strategies that they can use, employees can deal with cyber threats in many different ways.

2) Providing Access to Cyber Security Training Tools

Once an organization has established its own policies and regulations for cyber security, it is time to provide access to training tools for their employees. There are several resources available to help organizations train their employees through online training modules, videos, and even interactive exercises. The resources should include a list of frequently asked questions that address some of the more common issues that an organization may face . They should also be well-organized and easy for employees to understand.

3) Keeping Training Relevant

As times change, so do the threats that organizations face. Employees must be trained to adapt to new cyber security issues as they arise, particularly when it comes to emerging technologies. For example, an organization may need to update its training on social media policies if employees start using Facebook at work . It is important that all of these changes are documented and that employees are always aware of what they need to know about cyber security in their organization.

4) Taking the Time for Real-World Training

Although it is useful to train employees on cyber security, training them exclusively through material that they are given does not compare with real-world training . It may be helpful to get an outside consultant or agency involved who can help provide the desired training in a more effective way. With real-world training, employees can experience cyber security scenarios that they may not have thought about before and receive feedback on how they reacted to the threat. An outside party can also keep real-world training relevant by providing new information on emerging threats.

5) Putting It All Together

All of the individual components of a cyber security training plan must work together in order to be effective. If employees do not know how to access or use information, for example, the best training plans will fail. By knowing their role and what needs to happen around them, employees can contribute more effectively and work with other members of an organization to protect it against cyber security vulnerabilities.

Organizations would benefit greatly by having all employees take part in regular training. This will ensure that each employee knows what to do and how to act when presented with a cyber security scenario. Regularly updating the information that employees receive, keeping training relevant, providing access to tools, and practicing real-world scenarios are key components of a successful cyber security training plan. For more information about cybersecurity visit Bayshore Interactive today!