Cybersecurity

Educating employees about common cyber threats can protect your business and minimize risks. Employee cybersecurity training should cover basic security best practices, including:

• Use of approved software
• How to spot a phishing email and other social engineering attacks
• Effective password policies
• Safe usage of the internet
• Data classification and what information can be shared outside of the organization

By including your employees in the process of maintaining good cybersecurity practices and teaching them about the potential threats, you’re building greater protection for your organization. This education, combined with a focus on cybersecurity policy, is one of the best ways of building a strong first line of defense against cyber threats.

An internet usage plan sets guidelines around what employees can do online.

This includes:

• A requirement for employees to use complex passwords on all accounts and devices
• Restrictions on the kinds of websites that employees visit
• Rules on what kinds of software employees can download
• A rule that requires employees to seek permission to download new programs

Email is one of the most common tools used by fraudsters to target your business. To protect against email attacks, consider the following guidelines:

• Restrict employees from using their work email for personal use, which will prevent exposure to threats through their personal contacts
• Set guidelines around when and with whom it’s appropriate for your employees to share their work contact information; specify that they should only be sharing their email address and phone number with trusted contacts and organizations
• Train employees to treat suspicious emails with caution, especially if they include questionable links or attachments
• Caution employees to avoid clicking on links or opening attachments within suspicious emails
• Always phone vendors at a previously known contact number to verify payment information (new payment information or changes to existing payment information) instead of relying on emails, which can be intercepted or faked

Social media is an essential tool for many businesses, but it can also make you vulnerable to threats from cyber criminals.

Here are some tips for creating an effective social media plan:

• Create guidelines on what information can be shared about your business and where it would be appropriate to share it
• Train employees not to share confidential or proprietary information online
• Develop policies around whether employees can use their work email to sign up for online services (for example, social media accounts or newsletters)

Create guidelines around the usage of company trademarks.

As part of your cybersecurity plan, it’s a good idea to establish policies and procedures regarding:

• Employee use of company-owned devices, including laptops, tablets and mobile phones
• Employees’ access to business data on their personal devices
• Lost or stolen devices

Reminder: If one of your employees leaves the company, make sure to remove their access from all business-related accounts and retrieve all company-owned devices.