Tips from a Microsoft Security Solutions Provider to Build a People-centric Security Culture

A report by Australian Competition and Consumer’s Commission Scamwatch states that Australians lost over $34.28 million due to email phishing attacks in 2020. $48.08 million were lost due to illegitimate phone calls. The most alarming part in both these statistics is that the bad actors have somewhat moved past attacking your organisation’s security cover by finding loopholes in applications or software platforms. They now lure your employees into clicking links that would give hackers access to your technology stack. Provided that your employees are mostly unaware of the consequences when they click on an illegitimate email or link, the situation is grave. To help you avoid this situation, you can partner with a pioneer Microsoft Security solutions provider like us.

While working with people who have been playing various roles in different organisations for years, I have concluded that there are certain commonalities in human behaviour. The one prevalent notion is that employees believe that their actions don’t generate an impact as far as cyber security is concerned. Therefore, it is the employer’s job to correct them and connect with them to explain that one action can result in a breach. We, your Microsoft security solutions provider, join hands with you to educate your employees about the checkpoints they should verify before clicking on any link.

From my treasure trove of experience, I am enlisting certain tips that any organisation can use to enable and empower their professionals to not fall prey to any phishing emails or phone calls.

• Improve the Engagement Quotient of Your Security Training Sessions

Try to include components and concepts that intrigue people and are easy for them to understand and apply the same in their routine operations.

• Invest in User-friendly Technology Solutions

Liaise with a Microsoft technology solutions provider to invest in applications that shorten the employee authentication process. For example, it is not feasible for your employee to remember a password of 15 characters that is inclusive of special characters and alphanumerics. Not only the employees find it difficult to enter credentials every time they want to access an application, but the procedure consumes their productive time too. Therefore, look for smart and effective solutions such as passwordless authentication for Azure Active Directory.

• Inform your Employees about a Cyber-security Breach

Be transparent and encourage communication about any security breach in your organisation. Instead of keeping the incident in wraps, use it as an opportunity to train your employees about security with a real scenario. Certainly, don’t shame your employees by revealing who clicked on the illegitimate link, but adopt a subtle approach as raising awareness is important as people are your first line of defence.

• Educate the Employees About Phishing Links

With the working from anywhere culture becoming rampant, the chances of people clicking on inappropriate links increases. Direct your IT professionals or your Microsoft security solutions provider to apply an extra layer of security at risky sites.

• Conduct Training to Educate Not to Meet Compliance

Foster a mindset wherein people attend security training sessions to become aware and upgrade themselves. Conducting a refresher course after a breach is a must even if the victim was another organisation. I do understand that arranging an engaging session might be heavy on your pocket, but informed employees can save the entire organisation from any breach and as they say, prevention is always better than cure.

• Set a Pattern to Repeat Cyber-security Training Sessions

Instruct your Microsoft security solutions provider to equip you with sharepoint solutions that allows you to broadcast security related podcasts, videos, news and other interesting collateral in your company. Talk about every breach, highlight every incident and discuss how careful your employees need to be while accessing the company’s network from their own or corporate devices. Cyber-security includes many aspects and hence talking about it might intimidate the employees, but communication is the key to survival.

Every Endpoint is On the Hacker’s Radar

With many machines now being a part of an organisation’s technology surface, it is time to foster a culture of healthy suspicion. I do understand that when your confidential data is accessed from devices you don’t monitor or the networks you don’t manage, managing security becomes a typical ball game, but the price of a breach outweighs the efforts you make keeping an eagle’s eye on your systems.

Driving cultural change across any organisation is not the responsibility of only the technology director. All the C-suite employees have their parts to play and effective and engaging communication is the starting point. You can reach out to us on 1300 EXIGOTECH (394 468) to get assistance from a leading Microsoft security solutions provider in deploying solutions that tightens your security stance and encourage your employees to foster a security aware culture.