We all use technology in our personal lives, and most of us use technology at work. You would think that because we use technology so much that we would be really good at using it. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Most of us use technology in ways that leave us vulnerable to hackers. When it comes to your business, you have to do things to protect your company from disaster.
From upgrading to a zero trust security model to downloading antivirus software on all company devices, there are things you should do to increase your cybersecurity because there are plenty of ways your employees can compromise your business.
They Do Work on Their Own Devices
Never before has it been easier to do work outside the office. That can be a good thing! It means employees can work on the go, but it also means many of those employees are using personal devices, like phones and tablets, to get work done.
When employees work on devices that aren’t provided by your company, they can put your at risk because:
- They may not update their devices like they should, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.
- Employees who leave the company may still have access to sensitive company information.
- Personal devices can be lost or stolen easily.
Employees can still use their personal devices for work, but it’s important to create a clear conduct policy so employees know what information is appropriate to access on what devices and when.
They Use Bad Wi-Fi
Not only do they use personal devices that could make it easy for hackers to learn more about your business, they also use bad Wi-Fi.
Public Wi-Fi can be dangerous. Many connections are encrypted, which means your connection is secure, but not every place that offers free Wi-Fi offers an encrypted connection. Places like coffee shops are notorious for offering unsafe connections, but you might be surprised to learn that even municipal hotspots, like a public building or even a hospital, sometimes don’t have encrypted connections.
Educate your employees on what an encrypted connection is and why it’s important. That way they will be more likely to ask or research the quality of a connection before using it. They may also be more likely to invest in a VPN.
They Still Use Bad Passwords
At this point, everyone knows what it takes to create a great password, and yet, it seems that most still don’t create secure passwords. At the end of 2020, the most common passwords continue to be things like:
- 123456
- password
- 123123
- picture1
Choosing passwords in other languages doesn’t help either. For example, “senha” is “password” in Portuguese, but it’s still one of the most common and easiest passwords to crack.
Requiring employees to change their passwords often can help, and so can creating password requirements. Make employees add characters, numbers, and capital letters to their passwords so they don’t have a choice.
They Share a Little Too Much
You want your employees to trust each other, but sometimes they take it a little too far. If a coworker needs access to information that they don’t have a password for, it isn’t uncommon for a coworker in the office to give them the information or to give them a password they can use to access the information.
Physical security matters too when it comes to the technology in the office. If you have employees who let others into restricted areas or if they regularly bring in friends or children when stopping by the office after hours, your equipment and systems could be at risk.
Make sure employees understand the importance of access restrictions, and make sure no one has access to the office after hours.
They Click and Download
Clicking on harmful links is one of the most common ways employees can put your company in danger, especially because hackers are getting good at making links look genuine.
Many people don’t think twice about clicking on a link on social media, and even Google results pages can contain links that will download malicious software on your devices.
Create a policy that prevents employees from browsing social media on company devices and educate them on how to figure out if a link is malicious before they click on it.
Just because your employees are great at using Microsoft Excel and other company programs doesn’t mean they know how to keep everything safe. Know how they can compromise your cybersecurity so you can take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen to your company.
