How To Boost Cybersecurity Awareness In Your Business

The threat of cybersecurity attacks is more prevalent than ever.

And since it’s Cybersecurity Awareness month, we wanted to bring you something that can really help protect your business. Building that awareness in manufacturing environments is a key way to stay protected, and that’s exactly what we’re covering today.

With cyber-attacks predicted to cost $10.5 trillion by 2025, it’s little surprise that businesses everywhere are scrambling to make sure their defenses are in place and up to date.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month was originally started to help individuals and businesses protect themselves against the increasingly commonplace threats from the online attacks that we all face.

Great emphasis is put on the technology that protects you – but many security firms fail to tell you the most important thing you can do is create a culture of cybersecurity. How do you do that? Keep reading to find out.

The Modern Manufacturing Environment

The traditional barriers between conventional IT systems and production systems and the other equipment in the manufacturing environment have been torn down in recent years. A focus on cross-platform communication and interconnectivity has been at the forefront of the sector, to the point where we are now seeing true Industry 4.0. However, that has given birth to new threats.

More systems being connected simply means more entry points for hackers or people who want unauthorized access to your business systems. In Industry 4.0 there’s no such thing as ‘dumb’ technology, it’s all connected in some way which means every time you install a new piece of equipment in your manufacturing operation you’re creating a potential weakness in your security.

There’s no hard and fast rule because there is so much variation in equipment but every manufacturer in a connected environment must carry out thorough cybersecurity assessment on any hardware they want to bring into their operation.

The Biggest Threat To Your Company

Your people hold the keys to your systems. Sure, cybercriminals can target your business directly and use brute force to overcome the security you have in place, but it’s more likely they’ll target your people first. Humans are an easier target, not because they’re negligent, but usually because they want to do their job – and that’s most often how they get exploited by hackers.

Because of this, the most common forms of cyberattack will be social engineering ploys in the form of phishing. In its simplest form, this involves sending someone a link to click on which claims to be one thing but instead leads to the installation of ransomware or another form of malware. This being the most common form of attack means it needs to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind – including yours.

Show How Cybersecurity Benefits Everyone

An effective awareness program starts at the top, just like any other organization-wide initiative. You might run the whole show, or you might be leading your businesses’ IT, either way, you need to demonstrate not just the importance of boosting cybersecurity awareness – but also the benefits. So how can you make cybersecurity relevant to each individual in the business?

Imagine you’re starting a cybersecurity training program and the first group you want to train is your HR team. They control a lot of very sensitive information so they’re a prime candidate to be first on the list. They’re a responsible group, probably more aware of data security than most because they often deal with private information on employees. They go to great lengths to support the staff in your business in every way possible, so show them that cybersecurity is just an extension of their existing mission.

Or, perhaps before training even starts, you need to convince finance that it is a worthwhile investment. Cybersecurity is an ongoing endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be a particularly costly one. Most importantly, it could save your company an average of $4.35 million every time you don’t get stung by an attack. – how could they argue with that?

Promote a Culture of Incident Reporting

Finally, and it’s a simple one, every piece of training should always include multiple reminders that it’s better to report something suspicious, and it comes to nothing than letting something bad sneak past your defenses. Many people won’t want to waste your time, but just remind them that if they don’t report it, and it does cause damage, that’s going to be a lot more costly than you spending two minutes to double-check a potential phishing email.

Want to pair better cyber practices with your Microsoft setup? Speak to us today.