Insider Threat Awareness: the people-centric path to cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is surely a matter of sophisticated software and technology, but also procedures and proper training are vital to prevent often costly – both financially and reputationally – security incidents.
Being one of the standing pillars of the people-centric cybersecurity approach, insider threat awareness consists of providing employees and contractors knowledge of cyber risks by forming a security culture within the organization.
Practical instances in this respect are focusing on procedures, compliance, and cyber education in the framework of shifting attention from machines and software to people.
Training carefully personnel may enhance your cybersecurity to a great extent: scoring high in insider threat awareness may save any business from a lot of trouble.
True, numbers are inglorious. More than 60% of security incidents originated from insider threat activity concerns staff negligence.
Read more about how insider threat awareness can be enhanced on our blog below!
Insider threat awareness and its importance
Insider threat awareness can be referred as the processes and actions meant to inform and train personnel about cyber risks. This could be done by training and establishing new procedures.
By doing so, the focus of the security effort shifts from machine to people. However, software and technology can be employed to deliver education on cybersecurity.
The main goal is to give staff knowledge of cyber threats. By making them wary, the assumption is that they will notice potential security incidents and will not make mistakes that could let a threat actor in a system or network.
Proper knowledge of threats, moreover, means better response.
How can a business boost it?
First and foremost, there is no standard way to insider threat awareness. Considerations on the actual type of training one should take into account concern type of business, level of protection required, and, last but not least, financial resources and investments available.
There are some tips businesses can follow in its implementation:
- Definition of the scope of training
- Creating an inviting atmosphere
- Perform a simulated insider threat attack
- Schedule the next training session
Point 4 is very important: regularity of any security exercise may foster the basis for a proper security culture within the organization. This means mitigation from threats in the long term.
Conclusion
Human-related mistakes are the majority of the causes of security incidents. Focusing on training would save enterprises from a lot of troubles.
This exercise makes personnel and contractors wary of the cyber threat universe.
In conclusion, insider threat awareness training may be a good investment that business leaders may want to include in their security strategy.