The weakest link in cybersecurity is the human being
Vianen, October 26, 2023 - In 2003, October was declared Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Twenty years have passed, but this awareness is still necessary. Techniques continue to innovate, attacks become more strategic, and businesses are still vulnerable. Therefore, take the time to dwell on this topic and ask yourself the following question: are all aspects of cybersecurity within my company actually in order?
Often, all attention is focused on technology and people are forgotten. It is usually thought that threats only come from outside. But no matter how solid your security is, the human being remains the weakest link. The behavior of personnel has a major impact on the cybersecurity of a company. An unsecured laptop, lost USB stick, or weak password can easily be the cause of your next cyberattack. To prevent that, Wouter Hindriks, Security Architect at Avit, mentions three points of attention that are essential in a cybersecurity strategy.
1. Create awareness among your employees
Nowadays, hackers have almost unlimited (financial) resources to deceive people, sometimes even with the help of governments. This allows them, for example, to imitate entire websites of government agencies or banks, or they pretend to be someone else on social media. One click on a wrong link is enough for cybercriminals to break in and take data hostage. By training employees, they become more aware of the threats and risky behavior.
The methods of hackers continue to innovate. That is why it is important to continuously pay attention to this. For example, inform your employees about the dangers in a newsletter or facilitate an awareness platform. Employees can find training courses, current articles, and videos there. Another effective way to create cyber awareness is gamification. By offering quizzes and earning points, people quickly become competitive.
2. Stay up-to-date
Sometimes companies invest large sums in complex security solutions, and think that they are done with it. Then the attention shifts to other matters that have priority at that time, and the result? Outdated security solutions that pose a threat to your company because they no longer offer enough protection. Keeping up with all technological developments is a major challenge for many organizations.
Modern cybersecurity solutions use a weekly release schedule to quickly respond to new threats. For example, there are companies that employ hundreds of cybersecurity experts at any given time, or outsource this to experts, who are constantly looking for threats. They are constantly discovering new ways to protect against the innovative tactics of hackers.
3. Not only at the office, but also at home
In the office, the security of devices and the network is often well organized. But what about when employees are in other locations, such as at home? Personal laptops are much less well secured, but the network connection is also often a danger. This requires extra measures, such as constantly checking devices that request access to the company network. It is important to use security solutions that move with the user and their data. So not only in the office, but also at home, on the go, and in the cloud.
In short, companies need to consider all aspects of cybersecurity.
Not only is technology an important link, but also the person in front of the screen. Although technical investments remain important, the human aspect of the cybersecurity strategy should not be underestimated. A cybersecurity strategy is not complete if it does not take both aspects into account. If you do this, you are best prepared as a company for cyberattacks.
